


Polaroid

by eliseboobman (bechloehuh)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, blind!Lexa, past clarke/finn, past lexa/costia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-03-22 10:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3725791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bechloehuh/pseuds/eliseboobman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You may look back at this one day as the best thing that ever happened to you.” Clarke says, and she tries not to notice the way Lexa blushes, as she whispers;</p><p>“Maybe.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“If love is blind, then maybe a blind person that loves has a greater understanding of it.”_

― Criss Jami, Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile

* * *

Clarke wakes up with Raven Reyes pressed against her back and a pounding headache.

She must have slipped into bed with Raven when she got in last night, because she distinctly remembers Raven telling her she couldn’t go out because she had a test to study for. She can’t remember exactly what time she got home, but judging by how tired she is, it must have been later than usual.

She turns over, cuddling up to Raven and burying her head in the dip of her neck.

The last thing she remembers from last night is challenging Bellamy to a drink-off. Whoever could throw back three shots of vodka first, wouldn’t have to pay for another drink for the rest of the night; the other would have to pay for them. And of course, Clarke won. So, not wanting to waste an opportunity to take advantage of Bellamy’s money, Clarke made sure to finish all of her drinks as fast as she could, so he would be obliged to buy her another. And another.

And another.

She lost count of how many she’d had when Octavia made her sing ‘Time After Time’ on karaoke.

Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’ blasting from Raven’s phone wakes them both up ten minutes later.

Immediately, Raven presses snooze on her phone, blinking her eyes open and yawning. Her arm is wrapped around Clarke, and she looks down to see Clarke asleep, or at least pretending to be, her hair messy and last night’s mascara smudged under her eyes. She’s snoring, and Raven can’t help but laugh, because despite just how beautiful her best friend is, she looks like an absolute mess on a morning. She picks her phone up off of her nightstand, switching her alarm off before it goes off again.

Then she opens the camera and holds it out so both her and Clarke are in the shot. She takes a few selfies, pulling different faces as Clarke lays beside her, completely unaware of what she’s doing. She takes another selfie on the Snapchat app and puts it on her story, as well as sending it to everyone in her contacts, capturing it with “me and the bae.”

She gets a reply back from Bellamy immediately, with a selfie of him smiling. Murphy is laid in his Spongebob pyjamas on the floor behind him, and it’s also captured “me and the bae”. Clarke had mentioned that Murphy was also going out last night, so he’s probably hungover as well, despite the fact that he claims he can handle his liquor “like a boss”, as he likes to put it. Octavia had proved him wrong a few weeks into their freshman year when they had played ring of fire.

Before she gets up, she sends a picture of Clarke back to Bellamy, capturing it “princess needs her beauty sleep”, before she locks her phone and puts it back on the night stand. She tries to get out of bed, but she’s stopped when Clarke tightens her hold on her.

“Get the hell off of me, Griffin.”

Clarke grunts, holding onto Raven’s waist as she tries to get out of bed. And Raven tries to pry Clarke’s hands from around her, but she doesn’t budge.

“If you don’t let go of me in three seconds, I’ll scream.”

Raven can see Clarke smiling out of the corner of her eye, but she still doesn’t let go.

“One.” Raven says, her voice laced with caution. “Two–Clarke, I swear. I’ll scream.”

A few seconds later, after Raven notices that Clarke is, in fact, not going to let go of her. She takes a deep breath, ready to let out a loud scream. She _did_ warn her.

Except, as soon she opens her mouth, Clarke covers it with her hand and pulls her onto the bed, laying on top of her and putting all of her weight on her. And they’re both laughing, even though Raven is kind of pissed off that Clarke is making her late. Her test isn’t until 9, and it’s only 7:30, but she wants to get some last minute studying in at the library with Wick, and Clarke is making that very difficult for her.

She tries to yell at Clarke, to tell her off for ruining her studying time, but Clarke is cuddling into her, and she’s giggling quietly – and not to mention that Raven can’t even talk because of Clarke’s hand over her mouth – and she kind of feels sorry for Clarke because she’s had about two hours sleep, due to her stumbling in at five o’clock this morning. Eventually, after they both settle down, and Raven realises that the only way she’ll get Clarke off of her is to actually lay with her for a while, Clarke falls back asleep.

//

When Clarke wakes up again, the bed is empty and she feels like she’s going to throw up.

She’s not even confused as to why she’s in Raven’s bed. She tends to climb into bed with Raven a lot, especially after nights out. What she _is_ confused about, however, is the singing coming from somewhere in the apartment. Raven sings in the shower, or… she raps in the shower. Mostly Nicki Minaj or Kanye West, and she has a thing about rapping every word to Gangster’s Paradise. But this is a deep voice, and unless Raven has suddenly turned into a man in the space of a few hours, Clarke has no idea who it could be.

She slowly uncovers herself and slips out of bed, grabbing the first thing that she sees on the floor, which happens to be Raven’s hair brush. Although, there is plenty of more objects that could serve for a weapon, like a coat hanger on Raven’s closet door, or the pair of hair straighteners on her nightstand, or even Raven’s baseball bat that she keeps under her bed, _in case_ of emergencies like this.

Her head is pounding, but she ignores it due to the fear that somebody could be robbing her apartment. She’s only wearing her Polis University shirt, so she’s doomed if it is actually someone who has broken in – and for some reason, decided to use their shower and sing The Gorillaz – but she doesn’t really have time to find a pair of jeans when there could be a possible murderer or kidnapper in her home.

As she makes her way to the door, she doesn’t notice the plug laid out in front of her, and she steps on it, immediately letting out a squeak, before biting her lip to stop from making any more noise. The pain is pretty much killing her, and she’s sure that if she was to look at herself from somebody else’s point of view right now – hopping around Raven’s bedroom with a hair brush in her hand, trying her hardest not to swear because she honestly feels like Satan himself has just stabbed her in the foot – it would be hilarious.

But this could mean life or death, and she knows she’s being dramatic, but she’s heard of people breaking into college girls’ dorms before, and she’ll be damned if she lets it happen to her. She’s survived two years at Polis and she’s not going to ruin it now.

The bathroom is at the other side of the apartment, so if it is in fact, an intruder, then she can easily get to the apartment phone to call the cops, seeing she has no idea where her mobile is. Her heart is beating fast as she opens the bedroom door, holding the hair brush up tightly in her hand. A split second later, she notices Raven and Octavia sitting in the kitchen area opposite the two bedrooms, both of them with coffees in their hands.

“Oh thank God,” she sighs in relief when they look at her. “I thought I was alone and someone broke in to use our shower.” She puts the brush down on the sofa as she makes her way to the kitchen.

“You thought somebody broke in… to use our shower?” Raven raises an eyebrow, but Clarke just nods.

“And you were gonna use a hair brush to, what? Brush their hair?” Octavia asks, taking a sip of her coffee, a smirk on her face as Clarke approaches the coffee machine.

“Funny. It was the first thing I saw, stop with the judgement.” She pulls out a mug from the cupboard above Raven’s head, and places it under the coffee machine.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. But I’m asking you now, please don’t attack my boyfriend with a hair brush. He’s a sensitive person.”

“ _That’s_ who is in the bathroom?” Clarke asks, clicking the button on the machine before turning around. “Why is Lincoln using our shower?”

“His is being repaired as we speak, and you know how fucked up my shower is, so I told him he could use yours.”

“You live next door to Wick, why couldn’t he use his?”

“Because Wick lives like a pig.”

“Hey, watch it.” Raven warns her, although she’s not wrong. Wick _does_ live like a pig, even she can admit that.

“Plus, I was already coming here to bring you guys’ breakfast.” Octavia slides a brown paper bag over the table. “You’re welcome.”

Clarke grins, walking over to the table and picking the bag up. She notices that it’s from her favourite bakery outside of Octavia, Lincoln and Wick’s dorm building, and she makes a mental note to pick something up the next time she’s at Octavia’s favourite candy store. She pulls the chocolate croissant out of the paper bag and takes a huge bite, immediately moaning at the taste.

“Oh God, that’s good.”

“Here.” Raven says, and Clarke turns around to see her holding a box of Advil and a glass of water.

“Babe.” Clarke smiles graciously as she swallows the bite, taking the glass from Raven. She puts the croissant on the counter and takes the box of tablets off of her, taking two out and swallowing them down with the water. “You two do know how to take care of me.”

“Well, we need you to be alive for tonight.”

“What’s happening tonight?” Clarke asks, picking up the croissant and taking another bite. “Please don’t tell me we’re going out again. I have to hand in my art piece in two days and I’m nowhere near finished.”

“We’re going out to dinner.” Octavia says. “Lincoln’s cousin invited us out because she apparently has good news. And it must be good because we’re going to Ice Nation.”

“Ice Nation? Count me in. That’s like, my favourite restaurant.”

“I know.” Octavia grins, taking another sip of her coffee. As she does, the bathroom door opens and Lincoln steps out with just a towel round his waist, still wet from his shower. He smiles at Clarke.

“Nice bed hair.” He says, and Clarke grins, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Thanks. Nice singing.”

“Touché.” He says with a grin. He looks at Octavia, who is already staring at him, and points to his bag on the floor next to her chair. “Can you pass me my bag please?”

Octavia looks under the table at both sides of her, before picking the backpack up and walking it over to him.

“Jesus man, what’s in here, bricks?”

“Something like that.” He smiles as she hands him the bag.

“Hold on.” Octavia says, before Lincoln can shut the door. She reaches out and puts her hand on his abs, keeping them there for a few seconds, before taking a step back. “Okay, we’re good.”

Lincoln just laughs again, leaning down to peck her on the cheek before disappearing back into the bathroom. Octavia goes back to sit down at the table, crossing her legs underneath her. She looks up to see Raven and Clarke staring at her.

“What?”

“You’re so thirsty it’s _actually_ unbelievable.”

“He’s _hot_!”

“Oh, _really_? That’s… shocking! It’s not like you tell us in _every_ conversation we have.”

Clarke is laughing at Raven and Octavia’s conversation, because Raven is right. Octavia and Lincoln have only been dating for two weeks, and during those two weeks, Clarke’s pretty sure Octavia has mentioned him at least ten times per day, every day. She’s pretty much obsessed with him, which _okay_ , Clarke doesn’t blame her for it. She can admit that Lincoln is good-looking. And he makes Octavia happy, so that’s a plus.

“Clarke, tell her to stop picking on me.”

“ _Sweetie_ , stop picking on her.” Clarke says, getting her mug of coffee from the coffee machine. “Anyway, don’t you have your test today?”

She turns around to see Octavia and Raven both looking at her with smirks on their faces.

“It’s been and gone, Clarke.” Raven says. “The test was four hours ago.”

Clarke pauses for a second as she looks at the clock on the wall, realising that it’s 12:52PM. “Oh. How did it go?”

“Aced it, obviously.”

“ _Obviously_.” Clarke repeats, rolling her eyes as she finishes her croissant.

A little later, Lincoln walks out of the bathroom again, this time with his clothes on, and he sits down next to Octavia at the table. He takes her coffee out of her hand and drinks from it, absentmindedly putting his arm on the chair behind her.

“C’mon. _Seriously?_ You guys are gross, I mean look at that. You share your coffee, for God’s sake.”

“Honestly, you make me sick.” Clarke agrees with Raven, finishing off the rest of her coffee. “You’re so gross.”

“You guys are just bitter because you don’t have a Lincoln.”

“I have a Kyle Wick, actually.” Raven says, and it takes a second before she shrugs and realises she’s wrong, because right now, Wick is probably in his underwear playing Call Of Duty with Bellamy and Murphy, and she’s pretty sure he hasn’t actually showered in four days. “You know what, as a matter of fact, I am bitter. Fuck you guys.”

Clarke laughs, lifting herself up to sit on the counter as Raven walks out of the kitchen.

“You have me Raven baby.” She says as she watches Raven make her way to her room. Just as she’s about to shut the door, she winks at Clarke over her shoulder, making them all laugh.

//

After hanging out for a while at Clarke and Raven’s apartment, the four of them decide to go out for something to eat. It’s a nice day, and there’s a cute little café not far from the University that they always go to. It sells probably the best grilled cheese that Clarke has ever tasted, and it’s cheap too. Plus, they haven’t been grocery shopping so the most they could make out of the contents of Raven and Clarke’s fridge is a lettuce sandwich.

They take Lincoln’s car, with Octavia riding shotgun and Clarke and Raven sat in the backseat. On the way there, they put on some Billy Joel, and Clarke plays on her phone for pretty much all of the ride, with her legs resting in Raven’s lap. Raven had introduced her to the game Stick Hero a few days ago, and she has been addicted to it ever since. Although, it _is_ the most frustrating game she’s ever played, and she’s lost count of how many times she’s had to fight the urge to throw her phone at the wall.

She manages to get to 62, three away from her high score, when Raven taps on her screen to tell her that they’ve arrived, but the action throws her off, making her lose the game. And immediately, she punches Raven in the arm, and Raven bursts out laughing, pushing Clarke’s hand away as she tries to punch her again.

“You killed me, you asshole!”

“That’s for not letting go of me when I had to get up this morning!” Raven yells before quickly opening the door and getting out of the car before Clarke can hit her again. Clarke just rolls her eyes as she unbuckles her seatbelt, opening the car door and getting out.

“You loved it really.” She says over the roof of the car as she puts her phone in her back pocket. “You’d stay in bed with me _all day_ if you could.”

“Hell no, you’re the worst person to sleep with.”

“It’s happened before.”

“It happened once, and that was because I was sick. You hog all of the covers and drool in your sleep.”

“I do _not_ drool.” Clarke scoffs.

They’re making their way into the café as they tease each other back and forth, and Lincoln and Octavia are walking in front of them, not exactly fazed by their conversation. They’re honestly like a married couple, so they’re used to it. Or at least, Octavia is. It took a while for Lincoln to actually believe that the two of them weren’t dating.

“Yes you do, I’m never sleeping with you again.”

“Well, even if I do, at least I don’t undress myself. Like honestly Reyes, if you want to get naked with me all you have to do is ask.”

“Like you can talk, do I have to remind you of graduation?”

Clarke’s eyes widen, and she whips her head around to glare at Raven, warning her not to say anything. Her glare is enough for Raven not to mention it, but it doesn’t stop her from laughing at the memory.

The two had been at Jasper’s graduation party when they had had one too many drinks. It was Octavia’s idea to play spin the bottle, and to this day, Clarke is still convinced that Octavia rigged it, because there was absolutely _no way_ that the bottle happened to land on Raven _every single time_ Clarke spun it. Plus, Octavia was the only one who knew about Clarke’s low-key crush on Raven back then, so she still believes that it was all Octavia’s fault.

Eventually, after the two of them lost count of how many times they’d made out, the game ended and everyone went back to dancing and drinking, (or for Octavia and Jasper, making out in Jasper’s basement), until the early hours of the morning. Clarke and Raven were forced to share a bed that night, and due to the ridiculous heat in Jasper’s spare room, Clarke decided to change into a pair of Jasper’s shirt and shorts before she actually went to bed. Except, by the time Clarke actually got out of her dress, she was already falling asleep, and so decided to just climb into bed naked. You could only imagine Raven’s surprise when she climbed into bed with Clarke to see her with absolutely no clothes on.

The two have pretty much been inseparable ever since.

“That was the start of something beautiful and you know it.” Clarke tells Raven, before they both hear someone clear their throat.

They turn to see Octavia stood with wide eyes, motioning behind them with her head. They both turn around to see practically the whole café staring at them, most of them being elderly couples or families, the exception being one girl with her back facing them, who looks to be typing something on her laptop.

“What, have they never seen two girls flirt before?” Raven says, a little too loudly, and Octavia laughs, shaking her head as she turns around and makes her way to the counter to order her food.

They both watch Lincoln lean down to whisper something into Octavia’s ear, and they distinctly hear Octavia laugh, before telling him, “ _Yes_ , Lincoln, I’m sure. They’re definitely not dating.”

It makes them both laugh as they wait in the line behind them.

“If you were to guess, how many people thinks we’re dating here?”

There’s a playful glint in Raven’s eye as she whispers the question to Clarke, and Clarke knows exactly what she’s thinking.

“Care to make it, all of them?” Clarke says, snaking her arm around Raven’s waist, and Raven just looks at her with a smug grin, pulling her towards the counter.

//

Lexa returns home to Anya baking cookies and listening to Hozier.

She smiles distractedly at the smell as she shuts the door behind her. Anya’s cookies are probably her favourite things in the world, other than Uncle Gustus’ homemade veggie burritos. She and Anya bake a lot together, or rather, Anya’s the one who bakes, and Lexa is the one who eats the raw cookie dough and starts food fights.

“I thought you’d be back a little later.” Lexa hears from the Kitchen.

She folds her stick and takes her glasses off, putting them both on the table by the doorway. She slips her shoes off, moving them to the side as she usually does, before walking into the kitchen.

“I stopped at the coffee shop to do my thesis but it was too loud and I couldn’t concentrate because of some obnoxious teenagers. Do I smell cookies?”

“You do. Peanut butter. And _hello_ , you were an obnoxious teenager once.”

Anya is just pulling the cookies out of the oven as Lexa enters the kitchen, running her hands along the wall beside her.

“But I wasn’t _that_ annoying, was I?”

“Debatable.”

Lexa lets out a soft laugh as she leans against the counter behind her.

She’s known Anya since they were both younger, and Anya has been Lexa’s best friend ever since they were four. She was there for her when she found out she was going blind, and she was always the one Lexa went to if she had a problem. They might as well be sisters, what with how much time they spend with each other. And not to mention how generous Anya has been throughout their high school career, spending almost every day during finals at Lexa’s house, helping her with her homework and testing her. Lexa couldn’t thank her enough, and she honestly doesn’t know what she’d do without Anya in her life.

She hopes to God that she’ll never have to experience that. Not again.

“Are they done?”

Lexa makes her way to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a carton of milk.

“Yup, I put them in fifteen minutes ago.”

“They smell nice. What’s the occasion?”

“There doesn’t have to be an occasion for me to want to bake cookies.”

Lexa feels the top of the lid, before putting it back and pulling out the carton of orange juice next to it. She shuts the fridge and takes three steps to the left, reaching above her head and feeling around for the cupboard where the glasses are usually kept.

“You only bake when you’ve got good news, so out with it.”

Anya smiles as she watches Lexa pour herself a glass of orange juice, successfully putting the carton back in its right place in the fridge. Lexa takes a sip, before turning around and leaning against the counter behind her.

“Okay.” Anya says, crumbling. She can’t keep things from Lexa, no matter how hard she tries. She was going to wait to tell her tonight, but she can’t hold it in any longer. “I got an intern job at Ark.”

Lexa’s mouth widens as she gasps, and she puts her glass on the counter in case she drops it. It’s happened before, and she’d rather not cut her foot open on a piece of glass _again._

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Anya grins. “They called me this morning saying they read my resume and they want me to work for them for a while, just to get to know the scene. I mean, it’s not technically a job and I won’t be getting paid for it, but at least it’s something, right? I–“

She’s cut off by Lexa’s hand on hers, before she pulls her in to a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her shoulders.

“Anya, that’s awesome.”

Anya smiles as she hugs Lexa back, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

“I’m having a celebratory dinner tonight for it and I expect you to be there.”

“Of course I will.” Lexa says as she pulls back, a grin still on her face. “My best friend’s gonna be a lawyer. How cool is that?”

“Hey, not yet. I’m gonna be an intern.”

“Stop being pessimistic. Ark is like, the best law firm in DC.” Lexa says, pushing Anya’s shoulder before taking a step back.

“Reservations are at seven.” Anya says, walking past her into the living room. She turns the TV on and sits down on the couch. “Want to watch TV before we go?”

“Seven? What time is it now?”

“Quarter past five.”

“Do I need to change?” Lexa makes her way to the living area, stopping behind the couch that Anya is sat on.

“No, you don’t have to get dressed up.” She reaches behind her for Lexa’s hand, pulling her forward.

“But I–“

“–No buts.” Anya interrupts, pulling Lexa’s hand until she falls forward, almost face first onto the couch, if it wasn’t for her hands saving her. Lexa gets comfy, resting her head in Anya’s lap. “What do you wanna watch?”

“Anything.”

Anya looks through the channels to see what’s on, before she settles on Girl Meets World. They may be technically adults, but it’s both their favourite Disney show, and Anya personally loves the little kid on it. He reminds her so much of her little sister. Lexa’s favourite is Cory and Topanga, only because she loved them in Boy Meets World, and she was pretty much obsessed with it when she was younger. She owns every season on DVD, and she’s seen every episode at least five times.

Every now and again, Anya narrates what’s happening, but the rest of the time, Lexa is fine with just listening and picturing it for herself. It’s easier, seeing as this is an episode that she’s seen before.

They do this a lot. Lexa doesn’t really care about someone narrating for her, but Anya likes to do it in case she gets confused, especially with the silent parts where there is no dialogue. And if it was anybody else, Lexa wouldn’t like it. She’d tell them to stop, but there’s something about the way Anya gets so invested in movies and TV shows, it’s endearing. Plus, her narration of them is pretty entertaining at times, and she always manages to make Lexa laugh, so that’s a plus.

It makes her feel better about not being able to see what’s happening.

After an episode of Girl Meets World, Anya gets up to take the cookies, which have now cooled down, out of the oven tray and put them on a plate. She takes two off of the plate for her and Lexa, before wrapping them up and putting them in the cupboard.

“Could you bring me my drink please?” Lexa asks from the living room, and Anya nods, but then laughs at herself, before answering. “Sure.”

“Thanks.”

She notices that it’s almost empty, so she fills it up with orange juice, before taking it to Lexa in the living room. She knocks her hand lightly with the side of the glass, letting Lexa know where to take it from, before putting one of the drinks coasters on the table in front of Lexa.

“You want a cookie?” she asks, putting it on Lexa’s lap, before sitting back down beside her.

“Thanks. I think I’m gonna get changed.”

She takes a bite from the cookie, before feeling in front of her for the table. She feels around for the coaster, and places her glass down on it.

“Be ready for six forty five.” Anya says, and Lexa smiles as she makes her way to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

//

It’s twenty past seven when Lexa and Anya get to the restaurant.

Thanks to a football game, Polis vs TonDC, the traffic on the way to the restaurant was hectic. None of them knew about it, or else they would have set off sooner, so now they’re twenty minutes late to their own reservations. Somehow, the other’s managed to get there before them, and are waiting inside at the table.

“Reservation under the name Anya.” Anya tells the waitress stood at the door. Lexa is stood behind her, one of her hands on Anya’s right shoulder, and her other hand holding her white stick.

“This way.”

“To your left.” Anya tells Lexa as she starts to follow the waitress, Lexa following behind her.

Lexa had changed into a black dress before they set off. She was originally going to wear her black jeans and blazer, but tonight is Anya’s night, so she decided to dress up nicely. Plus, she didn’t want their dinner guests to think she’s a slob and couldn’t be bothered putting in any effort. And Anya is wearing a dress too, so even if she _is_ dressed too formally, so is Anya.

They reach the table, and Lexa can hear that there’s at least five or six people there. She recognizes Indra, Nyko and Lincoln’s voices, but the rest, she’s not sure.

“I’m so sorry we’re late, guys. The traffic up here was ridiculous.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. We’ve only been here for like, ten minutes.”

Lexa doesn’t recognize the voice, and it seems like it’s coming from the other side of the table. She hears Lincoln tell her that she looks great, and she thanks him with a smile. She feels Anya’s hand guide her hand onto the back of a chair, and she thanks her silently, before pulling the chair out and sitting herself down. She folds her stick up and places it in her bag, and hangs the bag on the back of her chair. She pulls herself in, placing her hands on the table in front of her to get herself situated properly, and she feels Anya’s hand on hers for a second, before she introduces her to the group.

“Lexa, this is Octavia, Raven and Clarke. Guys, this is Lexa.”

A chorus of _hey_ ’s and _nice to meet you_ ’s comes from the other side of the table, and Lexa lifts her hand to wave, with a tight-lipped smile. She knows for a fact that she looks shy, even though she’s trying her hardest not to. Confidence isn’t really her forte though, so she just hopes that these girls don’t patronize her for it.

It’d be a first.

“I’ve heard a lot about you guys.” She says with a smile, and it feels forced but she tries not to think about it too much. She just wants to enjoy the night.

“Good things, I hope.” One of them says, and Lexa’s not actually sure who said it, so she just smiles.

“All good things.”

And it’s true. Ever since Lincoln has started dating Octavia, he’s been over at Lexa and Anya’s place pretty much every other day, bragging to them about how great she and her friends are. This is the first time they’ve met Octavia though, so it’s nice to finally put a voice to a name, even though she’s not quite sure which voice belongs to whom. She wasn’t aware that Lincoln was bringing the others as well, though.

She’s not very good with meeting new people.

“So Anya, what’s your big news?” Lincoln asks, and Lexa listens as Anya tells them about her internship at the law firm. She can hear the excitement in her voice, and she’s honestly never been so happy for her. Anya deserves this more than anybody, and she just wishes she could see the excitement on her face.

She doesn’t normally wish to see things. She’s been blind for fifteen years, and she’s managed quite well so far. There’s just certain times, times like this, when she wishes she could see her best friend. See her smile, and her eyes light up as she talks about her internship. And she wishes she could see the other dinner guests. She’s sure Anya will describe them to her later, but right now, Anya is talking to them and Lexa is finding it hard to differentiate their voices.

She’s caught up in her little reverie for only a few seconds, before she’s pulled back to reality and she feels okay again. At least, as okay as she can be for now.

She takes a deep breath and involves herself in the conversation before they order their food.

//

After ordering, Clarke, Raven and Octavia excuse themselves to go to the restroom.

“Your girlfriend seems really nice.” Lexa tells Lincoln. He’s seated beside her on the round table, with Anya on her other side. Nyko and Indra are both sat on the other side of Anya, and are talking about their next basketball game.

“She is nice. And she’s beautiful, Lexa. _So_ beautiful.”

She smiles at the affection in his voice, even though he’s told her this many times before. She’s glad Lincoln has found someone he truly likes, despite the fact that he talks about her every single minute of every single day. It’s cute though, so she can let it slide. He deserves this.

“God, you’re so gross.”

“That’s what Raven and Clarke said this morning.” He says through a laugh, and she smiles as she takes a sip of her Coke.

“They seem nice too.”

“They are. They’re also beautiful.”

She smiles again, putting her glass down in front of her.

“Careful, you don’t want Octavia hearing you say that about her best friends. Girls can be mean.”

“Nah, she’s cool. They have a weird friendship. It’s like they’re all in a relationship with each other. Honestly. It took me a while to get used to Clarke and Raven. I could have sworn they were dating, but Octavia says they’re not. Plus, Raven is dating Kyle Wick.”

Lexa sits up in her chair at this. If Lincoln presumed Clarke and Raven were dating, that would mean they’re… gay, right? Or bisexual or pansexual, at least. Raven is dating a boy though, so Clarke could be gay.

_No._

Lexa can’t think about that. She’s known these girls for what, twenty five minutes? She hasn’t even had a full conversation with either of them. She doesn’t have time for this right now. She doesn’t have time for _anyone_ at this point in her life. She’d rather not get attached to anyone. It’s way too soon.

“They seem really nice.” Is all Lexa says, before she takes another sip of her drink.

Clarke, Raven and Octavia come back a few minutes later, and they all immediately dive into a conversation about finals.

Lexa tries not to notice that she seems to have already separated Clarke’s voice from the rest of the group’s. It doesn’t mean anything.

//

After finishing their meals, the group make their way out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. It’s not too late, so they all decide to stay out for a while. Lincoln suggests going to one of the bars up town, seeing as most of them have already been drinking, and it could be a better way of getting to know each other. Anya is already over the limit, and she’s too drunk to drive Lexa home, which is a problem.

Lexa can already feel the panic rising up from her gut, but she tries her hardest to swallow it down. Not today.

“Um, guys.” She says, clearing her throat. She reaches out to tap one of them, but she can’t seem to reach any of them. “Guys.” She says louder.

They hear her this time, and they all turn to look at her. Immediately, Anya is by her side, and she lets out a small sigh of relief.

“I, uh… I think I’m gonna head home. I don’t want to hold you back.”

“What, no.” Anya says, her voice slurring a little. “You can at least stick around for a while. Please?”

“I have to study. Big test tomorrow.”

She’s lying. She doesn’t have a test until the end of next week, but she doubts Anya will remember, if the smell of alcohol on her breath is anything to go by. She kind of just wants to get home and change into something comfortable, and not have to worry about getting left behind. She knows that Anya wouldn’t let that happen, but she’d rather be safe than sorry.

“How are you gonna get home?” Lincoln asks her, and he sounds worried, as he usually is.

“I’ll just take the bus.”

“I can drive you home.”

She thinks the voice belongs to Octavia, but she’s fairly certain that Octavia has been drinking. She can’t step into a car with someone who has been drinking. She won’t.

“Are you sure?” Lincoln asks.

“Yeah, I haven’t been drinking.”

“Yes you have.” Lexa snaps. It comes out meaner than she intended, but at the moment, she doesn’t really care. She’s putting people in danger and she needs to be called out on it.

“I haven’t.”

“You have.”

“Lexa, I’ve been drinking lemonade all night.”

The voice is closer to her now, a few feet away, and she was wrong before. The voice belongs to Clarke, not Octavia. And now that she thinks about it, she does remember Clarke ordering lemonade throughout the night, while all the others were drinking wine or beer.

“I apologise, Clarke.” Lexa says. “I thought you had been drinking.”

“It’s no problem. You want me to give you a ride home?”

“I mean… if you don’t mind. I don’t want to ruin your evening.”

She hears Clarke let out a soft laugh, before she feels her link their arms together.

“You’re not ruining anything.”

//

It’s a cold night.

She bids goodbye to the others, giving Anya, Lincoln, Indra and Nyko a hug, and shaking hands with Raven and Octavia, before going with Clarke to her car. Clarke lets her hold onto her shoulder as she guides her to her car, which she’s thankful for. Clarke and Raven had drove together to the restaurant in Clarke’s car, so they wouldn’t have to borrow somebody else’s to get home. And Raven can easily hitch a taxi ride back with Lincoln and Octavia, seeing as they live in the same dorm building as Wick, so she can stay at his for the night.

It took a while for Clarke to reassure Lexa that she’s absolutely fine with driving her home.

Lord Huron is playing on the radio on the drive back, and Lexa is tapping the tips of her fingers on her lap. A nervous trait she picked up when she was younger. She shouldn’t be nervous, and she’s tried telling herself this over and over, but she can’t help it. She’s in a car with someone she’s known for about two hours, which isn’t like Lexa at all. She doesn’t _do_ this. Not with new people.

“Hey, Lexa?”

Lexa hums in response as Clarke turns the music down.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You’re gonna ask me when and how I became blind, aren’t you?

“How did you know?”

She gulps, but ignores the question. She knew that question was coming. At least Clarke’s not one to beat around the bush.

“I got sick when I was five years old. I got a corneal infection that made the back of my eyes inflame. They tried surgery, but it didn’t work. It kind of, gradually sent me blind. And I, um… was considered legally blind on my sixth birthday.”

An awkward silence washes over them, and Lexa wishes she hadn’t said anything. She expects Clarke’s sympathy, and frankly, she doesn’t want it. She doesn’t want, or need, anybody’s sympathy.

But Clarke doesn’t say “I’m sorry”, or “that must have been awful, how did you deal with it?” like any other person would. And it surprises Lexa, because so far, Clarke is nothing she’s expected her to be. Maybe she’s just being judgemental, even though she tries her hardest not to be, but she expected Clarke to be a bitch.

“Were your parents blind?” Clarke asks after a few seconds of silence, and Lexa shakes her head.

“No.”

“Do you remember seeing?”

“Barely. I dream, but… it’s obviously different.”

“What’s it like?”

Lexa shakes her head, sighing. “Can we not do this?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Listen, I have to stop for gas, is that okay?”

Lexa just nods, and Clarke smiles at her, even though she knows she can’t see it.

She pulls into an empty gas station and parks up next to one of the pumps, letting Lexa know she’ll be five minutes, before getting out. It takes her longer than five minutes. Not that Lexa is counting or anything. But she eventually gets back into the car, and she’s complaining that it’s freezing outside, but Lexa isn’t really listening. She’s just waiting for her to start the car and take her home.

But she feels Clarke’s eyes on her for at least ten seconds, before she turns towards her.

“I can feel you staring at me, Clarke.”

“What, is that like a thing? Your other senses increase when you’re blind?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Clarke laughs, and she’s not sure why, but Lexa feels her stomach twisting slightly. They’re not butterflies though. It’s probably because she hadn’t eaten much of her dinner back at the restaurant. She ordered pasta, but there was too much, and her anxiety over impressing the others was ruining her appetite.

“You’re funny.” Clarke says.

It takes her the rest of the ride home to convince herself that the butterflies are definitely _not_ because of Clarke Griffin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ clarkestiddys if u want


	2. Chapter 2

_“It’s the unknown that draws people.”_  
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

* * *

The ride back to Lexa’s apartment takes longer than they had expected.

There are still cars lining the streets from the football game, and the roads are still ridiculously busy, despite it being past 10. There’s also the occasional drunk group of friends staggering up the street in their football gear, chanting songs that neither Lexa nor Clarke are familiar with. It’s quiet in the car, save for the occasional comment from Clarke about the traffic or the drunken middle-aged men or the cars behind her who are beeping their horns, even though they can _clearly_ see that the traffic isn’t moving. And every now and again, the GPS in her car tells her to “ _carry on forward up this road for four hundred more yards and then turn left_ ”, except she _can’t_ carry on driving up the road for four hundred yards and then turn left, because they’ve been stuck in the same fucking spot for what feels like nine hours.

They’ve hardly said a word to each other since they set off from the restaurant as well, and God knows why it’s so awkward. Clarke’s not sure if she’s done something to upset Lexa, or if Lexa is always like this. She wonders, for a brief moment, if Lexa would be this silent if it was Octavia or Raven driving her home instead.

Maybe Lexa just doesn’t like her.

Whether she likes her or not, Clarke is pretty sure that if neither of them says anything soon, she’ll explode. This is probably the longest time she’s gone without speaking, and it’s only been about thirty minutes.

It surprises her though, when Lexa speaks up from her spot in the passenger seat. It’s in a barely audible tone, and she has to ask her to repeat herself, but it’s _something_.

“Are we almost there?”

“Um, no… sorry.” Clarke looks at Lexa, who is still tapping her fingers on her knee. “The traffic is crazy. If I would have known, I would have taken a different route.”

“It’s okay.”

It falls silent again, and Clarke sighs, resting her elbow on the door beside her as she runs her hand through her hair. The traffic isn’t even moving, and she doubts she’ll get back home before eleven if it carries on like this. Plus, she’s kind of annoyed because she forgot to record Person of Interest before she set off earlier, so she’ll have to watch it online, and her laptop _sucks_ , and the internet connection in her apartment is _awful_.

She tries to think of a conversation starter, literally _anything_ to get rid of this silence, but the only thing that comes to mind is Raven’s cheesy pick-up lines that she uses on Clarke _all the time_. And Clarke’s not sure if Lexa would appreciate her asking “do you have a mirror in your pocket because I can see myself in them?”

Lexa seems like the type of person who would slap her and try to walk the rest of the way home, and part of her doesn’t want to get slapped by Lexa. The other part of her – the bigger part – doesn’t really want Lexa walking home this late at night.

“What’s your favourite TV show?” Clarke asks, the first question that comes to mind. She looks at Lexa, who is silent for a minute, before she shrugs.

“I don’t know, really. I like Orange Is the New Black. And Parks and Recreation is funny, too.”

“Oh, I _love_ Parks and Rec.”

Lexa smiles. “Me too.”

 _‘Keep the conversation flowing, Clarke._ ’ her brain tells her. ‘ _You got this._ ’

“You, uh… want some music on?” Clarke picks her phone up from its holder beside her and scrolls through her music, making sure to keep checking to see if the traffic moves at all, but alas, it doesn’t.

“Sure.”

“Anything in particular?”

“Surprise me.”

She has hundreds of songs on her phone, so she connects it up to the car using the wireless Bluetooth, before pressing shuffle.

No Diggity comes on, and Clarke groans. Of course.

“You don’t like this song?” Lexa asks, and Clarke laughs as she turns the music up.

Lexa tries not to think about how Clarke’s laugh is a really, _really_ nice sound, probably nicer than anybody else’s laugh she’s heard. That doesn’t mean anything though. Most girls do tend to have nice laughs.

“No, I do. I love this song.” Clarke nods her head along to the song. “ _Yo Dre, drop the verse._ ” She sings in a deep voice as she starts tapping her hand on the steering wheel, smiling.

The corner of Lexa’s mouth twitches upward and Clarke is pretty sure she sees a smile for a split second, before she straightens her face again.

She doesn’t know why the girl is so tense. Probably because she’s in a car with somebody she doesn’t even know, but Clarke is hardly one to intimidate people. And _okay_ , just this morning, she was ready to attack Lincoln with a hairbrush, but that doesn’t mean she’d _actually_ hurt somebody. Not unless they were trying to hurt her. She thinks about doing something to let Lexa know that there’s no need to be so tense around her, and she’s about to reach out and touch her arm to reassure her that it’s okay, but she re-thinks it. That would be weird. That would probably make Lexa uncomfortable and she doesn’t want that. Plus, the car in front of her sets off driving, _finally_ , so she pushes the handbrake down, puts both hands on the steering wheel, and drives forward.

“ _I like the way you work it, no diggity._ ” She sings under her breath, the music loud enough to drown out her voice. “ _I got to bag it up._ ”

She can admit, she _is_ a good singer, but she doesn’t really sing in front of people. Especially sober. But if she wasn’t sober right now then she wouldn’t be here driving Lexa home, which means Lexa would be back at the restaurant with a bunch of drunk 19-22 year olds, and for some reason the thought of that makes Clarke feel sick.

She passes that off as just being a decent human being who is worried about someone else’s safety.

“ _She’s got class and style_ ,” she sings a little louder. “ _Street knowledge by the pound. Baby never act wild, very low key on the profile. Catching feelings is a no, let me tell you how it goes. Herb’s the word, spin’s the verb, lovers it curves so freak what you heard._ ”

She steals a glance at Lexa out of the corner of her eye, and she blushes slightly when she sees Lexa smiling.

“You have a very nice voice, Clarke.” Lexa raises her voice over the music when she realises that Clarke has stopped singing, and Clarke laughs.

“Thank you.”

So maybe Lexa doesn’t hate her.

//

By the time they arrive at Lexa’s, it’s just past 11PM.

“Is there anywhere you’d like me to park?” Clarke asks as she pulls into the parking lot. It’s surprisingly empty, and she can see several empty parking spaces scattered around as she slows the car down.

“Um… near the entrance if you could.”

She nods and pulls into a parking spot as close to the entrance as she can get, pulling the handbrake up and shutting the car engine off. The music turns off as well, leaving them both in silence again.

“You have reached your destination.” She says in a voice similar to her GPS, which she had turned off when they were five minutes away from Lexa’s apartment building. She had realised that Lexa lives in the same building as Maya, Jasper’s girlfriend, so she didn’t need the GPS anymore since she’s visited the building a few times already.

Lexa lets out a nervous laugh and reaches down to pick her bag up off of the floor where her feet are. She pulls her white stick out and opens the door, unfolding it before she starts to get out. Clarke is pretty sure Lexa is just going to leave without saying thank you, and frankly, she thinks that’s quite rude. She’d just driven out of her way to make sure Lexa got home safely so the least she could do is say goodbye.

But then, Lexa stops, one leg out of the car, and Clarke looks at her in confusion.

“Clarke.” She says quietly, and there’s just something about the way she says Clarke’s name that reminds Clarke of someone else, someone who she’s not quite sure of. But it’s someone.

“Yeah?”

It’s a lie. She knows exactly who it reminds her of.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…” Lexa pauses, and Clarke gulps. “Do you want to stay? It’s late and I don’t really want you driving home at this time. It can be very unsafe.”

Clarke smiles. That’s not what she expected Lexa to say. At all. She’s starting to rethink the whole ‘Lexa doesn’t like me’ thing.

“I appreciate that Lexa, but I’m fine with driving back.”

“Clarke, please. I’d prefer it if you stayed.”

“Lexa, I–“

“–You made sure I got home safe so now it’s my turn.” Lexa says, and Clarke can hear something akin to desperation in her voice. “I don’t want you driving home this late at night. Especially after a football game. There’s idiots on the road. It’s dangerous.”

“Okay.” Clarke says, her voice noticeably softer. “Okay, I’ll stay.”

She doesn’t mention the sigh of relief that comes out of Lexa’s mouth as she steps out of the car. Or the small smile on her face.

Clarke picks her coat up from the back seat, and puts her phone in the coat pocket. She checks to see if everything in the car is turned off, before she gets out. She makes sure to lock her car before she walks around to the passenger side, her coat resting on her arm. Lexa has her stick extended, her glasses are still on, and it seems she’s waiting for Clarke.

“Ready?” Clarke asks, and Lexa nods.

Lexa reaches out for Clarke, her hand brushing past her arm, and Clarke’s eyes widen when she suddenly feels Lexa’s hand on her boob.

“Hey now.” Clarke says through a laugh, stepping away from Lexa’s hand. She watches as Lexa’s mouth widens and she quickly pulls her arm away, as if she’d just touched something hot and burned her hand. And Clarke would feel bad about her embarrassment, if she wasn’t laughing so much at the look on Lexa’s face.

“Oh my–oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Clarke laughs as Lexa rambles. She stops for a second before bursting out laughing again.

“I’m so embarrassed, oh my God. I’m so sorry.”

“Honestly, it’s okay.” Clarke says, and she watches as a relieved smile forms on Lexa’s face as she says sorry again. It makes her smile even wider, because Lexa finally seems to be loosening up. If she would have known this was all it took to break the ice, then she would have let Lexa feel her up hours ago.

“Come here.” Clarke says, grabbing Lexa’s hand. She guides Lexa’s hand up to her arm, and let’s go of it with a quiet, “there you go.”

Lexa then runs her hand up Clarke’s arm and holds onto her shoulder, and Clarke tries her hardest to ignore the shiver she gets when she feels Lexa’s finger tips on her skin.

“This is okay, right?” Lexa asks, her voice still quiet and nervous as she taps her shoulder. “It’s just much easier than linking arms.”

“No, of course. It’s fine. I’d rather you hold my boobs if I’m honest though.”

“Shut up.” Lexa laughs.

It falls silent again as they make their way to the building, but this time the silence is less awkward. It’s not exactly a comfortable silence, since Clarke is still wracking her brain for something to say to Lexa. But she doesn’t want to make a fool out of herself, which is a first. She’s starting to wonder why Lexa is suddenly making her feel all of these things. They haven’t known each other for long and Clarke is already worried about screwing things up.

It’s quiet in the parking lot as they walk across it, except for their footsteps and Lexa’s stick tapping on the ground. Clarke almost falls over it at one point, but Lexa doesn’t mention it, which Clarke is grateful for. She’s not sure if Lexa is the type to make jokes, but if the tables were turned, she’d probably end up making a joke about how she’s “falling for her already.”

Which isn’t true, but it’s a funny joke nonetheless.

Clarke reaches into her pocket and pulls her phone out to check the time. 11:11.

She smiles.

“Make a wish.”

“What?”

She looks at Lexa. “It’s eleven minutes past eleven. Make a wish.”

“Oh, okay.”

Clarke looks up to the sky, closes her eyes, and makes a wish.

//

The first thing Clarke notices when they walk into Lexa’s apartment is the smell of cookies.

It’s barely there, but she can smell them, because her grandmother used to bake cookies all the time, and her kitchen smelled amazing. And Lexa’s smells the same, and she thinks it’s kind of weird; that she’s comparing Lexa’s kitchen to her grandmother’s. But the smell takes her back, and she kind of welcomes the nostalgia.

The second thing she notices is how tidy it is.

It’s a really nice place, considering Lexa and Anya are college students in their second year. It’s not too big but it’s not exactly small either. It’s really clean, and it seems like there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. There’s braille labels on practically everything; the cupboards, the drawers, the fridge, the doors, the tables. _It’s amazing_ , Clarke thinks. _It’s so… Lexa._

Clarke slips her heels off, hangs her coat on one of the hooks by the door, and makes her way further into the kitchen, looking around the room. She runs her hands along the granite worktops, and the floor is cold on her bare feet but it’s nice. There’s pictures of Lexa and Anya in frames on the walls, and some with Lincoln, Indra and Nyko too, and a few other people she doesn’t recognize. There are pictures stuck on the fridge, held up by small circular magnets, and she approaches them slowly when she notices exactly how many there are. There’s loads. There’s a picture of someone Clarke isn’t familiar with, her arm is wrapped around Lexa and she’s kissing her cheek. She wonders if it’s her girlfriend, or maybe a sister, or just a friend. They look happy.

Lexa looks happy.

There’s also a picture of Lincoln giving Lexa a piggy back, with Anya stood beside them with a grin on her face. They’re at the beach, standing on the shore, and it looks like a beautiful day. She looks at it long enough to imagine she’s there, reaching a hand out to run her fingers over it; gliding the tips of her fingers across the blue water, and she smiles sadly before taking a step back.

She doesn’t want to be thinking about that right now.

She turns around to see Lexa kneeled down taking her shoes off. Her stick is folded up on the table near the door next to her keys, and she still has her glasses on. Clarke doesn’t comment on that.

“Your place is really nice.” She says, and she sees Lexa smile as she stands up, pushing her shoes to the side by the doorway.

“Thank you, Clarke.”

Lexa makes her way to the kitchen, and Clarke moves out of the way when she sees that Lexa is walking towards her. She opens the fridge, feeling around for a bottle of water, before turning towards Clarke.

“Do you want a drink?”

“Please.”

“I have orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, water… I think Anya has some wine somewhere, I’m sure she won’t mind if you have some of that.”

“No, thanks.” Clarke laughs nervously. “Apple juice is fine.”

She watches Lexa put her bottle of water on the counter, before feeling around in the fridge for the juice. She picks up the orange juice carton, and Clarke is about to tell her that she picked up the wrong one, but Lexa feels the lid before putting it back, and then she picks up the bottle of apple juice next to it. She shuts the fridge and moves over to the cupboard beside it, taking out a glass.

Clarke is surprised at how effortlessly Lexa pours the drink. She’s surprised at how good Lexa is at making her way around the room, too. She watches her in awe, smiling as Lexa holds out the glass of apple juice for her, and she takes it from her with a quiet “thank you.”

She seems to be staring, but she’s not quite paying attention to herself. She’s paying attention to Lexa. She watches as Lexa walks through the living room into another room, and honestly the only sign showing she’s blind is that she runs her hand along the wall beside her and that she still has her glasses on. Clarke is truly impressed.

“Clarke?” She hears from what she supposes is Lexa’s room, and she makes her way over to it, announcing her presence when she’s there.

“Hey.”

“Do you want to borrow some clothes to sleep in?”

“Oh, um… please. If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Lexa says, pulling out some sweatpants and a t shirt from the drawer that she’s stood in front of. They’re the ones that are a little too big for her, and she worries, for a second, if Clarke will be offended that she’s handing her them. But she hears Clarke tell her that they’re fine, so she shuts the drawer and walks over to Clarke.

“Thank you.” Clarke says, taking them from Lexa’s outstretched hands.

Their fingers brush slightly, and Clarke rolls her eyes. She doesn’t need this. All this cliché, feeling sparks when they touch, her heart skipping a beat when they look into each other’s eyes. She doesn’t need it at all.

“I’ll get changed in the bathroom.” Clarke says, turning around. She’s out of the room before Lexa can even tell her that it’s okay, it’s not like she can see her anyway.

While Clarke changes, Lexa sits down on her bed and lets out an exhausted sigh. She can’t help it. She’s feeling so many things at once and she doesn’t know how to stop it. First of all, she’s tired. She’s been up since 7AM and she’s not used to being around so many people in one day. It’s quite draining. She’s also feeling something about Clarke, but she’s not quite sure what. She’s hardly spoken to her, but she can already tell that she’s a nice person. She went out of her way to drive Lexa home, and Lexa just wishes she could do something to thank her.

She’s really funny too.

After she changes into some shorts and a t shirt, she sits on the bed again until she hears Clarke’s footsteps coming into the bedroom.

“You can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.” she tells Clarke, already standing up and making her out of the room. Their shoulders brush as she walks past her, but she’s stopped when Clarke grasps onto her arm.

Clarke doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. She’s looking at Lexa, and the dim bedroom light reflecting off of Lexa’s face stops Clarke’s train of thought, and she’s just standing there, holding onto Lexa’s arm with their faces probably _way_ too close to each other, but neither of them are moving.

Clarke notices that Lexa is really pretty up close, even with her glasses hiding most of her face.

She noticed how pretty she was at the restaurant, and Raven and Octavia even mentioned how pretty she was as well. But it seems like pretty doesn’t do Lexa justice right now. She’s the type of pretty that people describe in badly written young adult novels, or mediocre fanfiction. She’s beautiful. But Clarke doesn’t need to compare Lexa’s hair to a waterfall flowing down her shoulders, or her skin glistening like a summer goddess, or her freckles overlapping like autumn leaves, or her lips the colour of roses; beautiful and dangerous. Lexa is beautiful. Lexa is just beautiful, and that’s all that there is to it. There’s no need for the over-the-top metaphors and similes. She’s not a walking John Green book.

She wonders if it’s acceptable to kiss someone within four hours of knowing them.

It’s probably not.

Definitely. _Definitely_ not.

After she realises that she’s kind of just _stood there_ , holding onto Lexa and not really saying anything, but thinking about how she wants to kiss her, she loosens her grip slightly.

“I can’t make you sleep on your own couch, Lexa.”

“It’s no big deal. It’s a comfy couch.” Lexa smiles. A few seconds pass in silence, before Clarke fully lets go of Lexa’s arm.

“Okay.” She says. “Thank you. I appreciate it a lot.”

“It’s okay.”

Lexa is just about to walk out of the room, before she feels Clarke’s hand on her arm again. She thinks this might be a violation of sorts. Surely this much touching taking part in one’s bedroom should not be treated so lightly. But the feeling of Lexa’s arm on her finger tips makes Clarke weak, and she knows she shouldn’t be feeling this way because she hardly knows Lexa, but she can’t help it.

“We should get breakfast.”

“It’s almost midnight, Clarke.”

“Not now.” She laughs. “In the morning. Let me buy you breakfast. As a thank you for letting me crash here.”

Lexa thinks about it for a moment. She’s not sure whether Clarke is asking her as a friend here, or if she’s asking her on a date. She tries to ignore the feeling in her stomach at the thought of going on a date with Clarke. The idea is ridiculous. She hasn’t even known Clarke for five hours, surely Clarke isn’t asking her on a date. They’ll be getting breakfast as friends. Two girls can go get breakfast without jumping into bed with each other afterwards. Plus, she’s pretty sure Clarke is dating Raven, despite what Lincoln says. She heard them flirting at the restaurant.

“What do you say?”

“Okay.” Lexa nods. “Okay, tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

Clarke’s glad that Lexa can’t see the shit-eating grin on her face as she walks away.

//

Clarke manages to fall asleep for about two hours before she hears her phone ringing.

Lexa’s bed is really comfortable, and it smells nice. Which is probably weird, but Clarke has never been one to care about that sort of stuff. Her bed is like laying on a fucking cloud, and she’s gonna kill whoever is calling her.

She picks her phone up from where she had previously put it on the table beside Lexa’s bed, and squints her eyes to read the caller ID.

“What?” she answers, closing her eyes as she sits up.

“Can you come pick me up?”

“Raven–“

“–Please, Clarke.”

Clarke notices the desperation in Raven’s voice, and quickly uncovers herself, jumping out of bed.

“Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m outside Wick’s apartment building.”

“Wait there, I’ll be as quick as I can.”

She waits for Raven to hang up, before she checks the time. 1:44AM.

She thinks about just leaving in Lexa’s clothes, but rethinks her decision. That would be rude. She quickly undresses herself, trying to be as quiet as she can, before she puts on the dress that she was wearing earlier on. She straightens the covers on Lexa’s bed and folds her clothes up, before putting them down neatly. She slowly opens the bedroom door, and she can hear Lexa’s steady breathing coming from the living room, so she tiptoes out of the bedroom, making her way towards the front door. Before she leaves, she sees that Lexa has a notepad on the table by the door, and she quickly writes out a note for Lexa, leaving it on the table before getting her shoes and coat.

**_‘Had to leave early, Raven needed me. Pick you up @ 11? Clarke xo’_ **

Hopefully Lexa or Anya checks in the morning.

//

It takes her fifteen minutes to get to Wick’s apartment building, seeing as there isn’t any more traffic on the roads. It’s freezing in her car, and it doesn’t help that she has leather seats, so they don’t seem to be getting any warmer, even with the heating on. She pulls up right outside the building, and she can see Raven stood in the clothes she was wearing earlier on, her arms wrapped around herself to keep herself warm.

Clarke gets out of the car, leaving the door open as she rushes over to Raven.

“Hey.” She says, her tone soft, _caring_ , as she stands in front of her, placing her hands on her shoulders. “What happened?”

“We had a fight.” Raven says.

She’s not crying, but she looks upset and tired, and it honestly breaks Clarke’s heart seeing her best friend in such a state. Even if she has just woke her up at this hour. Despite the cold air, she takes her jacket off and drapes it over Raven’s shoulders, putting her arm around her waist as she guides her to the car.

She’s still drunk. Clarke can tell with the way she’s putting all her weight on her, and the smell of tequila on her clothes and breath. She’s freezing as well, and if Clarke wasn’t so worried about her then she’d tell her off for not wearing a coat. But now is not the time to be mother Clarke. Raven is drunk and upset and she needs her friend.

It takes some doing, but Clarke eventually gets Raven into the passenger seat of the car, and quickly runs around to the other side and gets in, shutting the door behind her. The car is even colder seeing as she left the door open, and she puts the heating on full as Raven gets her seatbelt on. She doesn’t set off straight away. She looks at Raven, who is pouting as she tries and clips the seatbelt into the buckle.

“Here.” Clarke says, leaning over and plugging it in for her.

“Thanks.”

“Raven, what happened this time?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Clarke frowns.

“You just woke me up in the middle of the night and made me pick you up, only to tell me you ‘don’t want to talk about it’? I don’t think so, Reyes.”

“We fought, okay? It’s no big deal.”

Clarke sighs as she starts to reverse out of the place she parked, turning the car around and pulling onto the main road. It’s mostly empty, save for the occasional car or truck driving past, probably on their way back from a late shift at work. Or who knows, maybe they’re picking up their best friend from her boyfriend’s house just like her.

After a few minutes, both of them sitting in a comfortable silence, Clarke speaks up again.

“What did you fight about?”

“Nothing.”

“Raven.” She warns, looking at her. And there’s something about Clarke’s voice that makes Raven shift in her seat, unable to think of anything else to say other than the truth.

“I forgot it was his birthday.”

“Today?”

Raven nods, and Clarke rolls her eyes.

“Is that it?”

“Don’t.”

“Okay.”

She honestly thought they fought about something more important, but apparently not. It always happens, though. She’s pretty sure Raven and Wick have had more fights than she’s had hot dinners. They’re never major fights, in Clarke’s eyes, but they treat them as such. It’s probably because Raven is drunk every time they have an argument, and she gets emotional when she’s drunk. If she’s honest, she can bet that they’ll be okay with each other by tomorrow.

The rest of the drive back is in silence, and as they walk up to their apartment, Clarke tries to cheer Raven up.

By her fifth Chemistry joke, Raven finally cracks out a smile.

//

“Where did you get that shirt?”

"From your closet,” Clarke answers, grabbing the bottom of the shirt she’s wearing and showing it off to Raven. “You like it?"

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”

“Like me.”

“Shut up.”

Raven is sat in the kitchen eating some Cheerios, her hair pulled up into a bun, and honestly, she looks like death. It makes Clarke laugh. Karma for waking her up in the middle of the night. There’s already a cup of coffee on the counter in Clarke’s Spongebob mug – a birthday gift from Murphy – and she smiles as she makes her way to the kitchen.

“Tired?” she asks, picking the mug up and bringing it up to her lips. She blows it a few times, before taking a small sip.

Raven’s answer comes as a long groan as she looks down at her bowl of Cheerios, her elbow resting on the table as she holds her head in her hand.

Clarke had let Raven sleep in her bed with her last night, because she knew that Raven just needed somebody to hold her. And sure, Clarke felt sorry for Raven. That doesn’t mean she’s not going to give her grief for waking her up in the middle of the night though.

It took a while for Clarke get back to sleep again. She found herself thinking about Lexa. She found herself thinking about a lot of things, but Lexa was the main subject of most of her thoughts. She wondered if she woke her up when she left. She wondered if Lexa was going to wake up in the morning expecting Clarke to be there. She wondered if Lexa would find the note she left. Part of her was scared Lexa wasn’t going to find it. Or even if she did, she’d have to ask Anya to read it out for her, and who knew if Anya was even there. She might have slept at Lincoln’s or Nyko’s or Indra’s, and Lexa would wake up all on her own.

It took her half an hour to convince herself that Lexa is capable of looking after herself and she didn’t need to worry.

It still didn’t stop her from worrying though.

It’s currently almost 10AM, and she’s surprised to see Raven up before her. Normally Raven gets the worst hangovers out of them all, and it takes a village to get her out of bed before noon.

“Why are you up so early?”

“I felt sick.” Raven replies, stirring the last Cheerio around her bowl with the spoon. She eats the last one and drinks the milk out of the bowl, before standing up and shuffling towards the sink. Clarke watches with an amused smile as Raven groans with every movement she makes.

“You’re a mess.” She tells Raven, who flips her off before walking into the living room.

She collapses onto the couch with another groan, using the remote to turn the TV on as she puts her feet up on the table in front of her. She looks through the programmes that they have recorded, and clicks on the latest episode of Criminal Minds.

“Want to watch Criminal Minds with me?” she asks, not taking her eyes off of the TV. Clarke walks into the living room as the title sequence plays, sipping her coffee.

“I’d love to but Criminal Minds sucks so… no.”

“ _You_ suck.”

“I’m meeting Lexa for breakfast.” Clarke says, which catches Raven’s attention. She looks up at Clarke, who looks like she’s trying to hide behind her mug off coffee.

“Lexa? Anya’s Lexa?”

“Yeah.”

“When did you–“

“–I was at hers when you called me last night.”

Raven’s eyes widen, and she opens her mouth, gawping at Clarke.

“You slept with her?!”

“No! Jesus Christ, Raven. I stayed because she didn’t want me driving home because it was late. We made plans to get breakfast.” Raven nods, but she still looks unsure. “I don’t sleep with people within five minutes of knowing them, Reyes.”

“Okay, okay.” Raven looks back up at the TV, and Clarke finishes off the rest of her coffee.

“So is it a date?”

“ _No_ , we’re just getting breakfast.”

“If you say so.”

“Shut up.” Clarke says, putting her mug in the sink.

She makes her way through the living room, purposely walking into Raven’s legs so she’s forced to let her past, and she smiles when she hears Raven mutter “asshole” as she walks into her bedroom.

//

Lexa wakes up to Anya poking her forehead.

She can hear Anya’s iPod playing quietly in the kitchen, and she sits up, immediately groaning at the pain in her back. She told Clarke that the couch was comfy, but that was a lie. She didn’t exactly want a guest to sleep on her uncomfortable couch, but now she’s starting to rethink her decision. Next time Clarke sleeps over, she’s definitely taking the couch.

Not that she’s expecting Clarke to sleep over again.

“What time is it?” she asks as she sits up fully on the couch, feeling it dip as Anya sits down beside her.

“Almost 10:30. I just got back. There was a note by the doorway from Clarke. I didn’t know she stayed.”

“A note? What does it say?”

“It says she had to go because Raven needed her but she’s gonna pick you up at eleven. Why is she picking you up? Did you sleep with her?”

“That’s in half an hour, I have to shower.” Lexa stands up, ignoring the question. She doesn’t know why she’s avoiding it. She knows she didn’t sleep with Clarke. But she can only focus on one thing, and that’s that Clarke is going to be here in half an hour and she hasn’t even showered yet.

She shouldn’t be worried about impressing Clarke, but for some reason she is.

She runs her hands through her hair as she rushes into her bedroom, almost walking into the wall in the process. She quickly gets a towel out of her wardrobe and strips herself of her clothes, wrapping it around her as she rushes to the bathroom.

Anya doesn’t even get a chance to ask her any more questions about Clarke before she’s in the shower.

//

After showering and brushing her teeth, Lexa hurries back into her room to get changed. In the time she was in the shower, Anya must have gone out, because the music in the kitchen is now turned off and there seems to be no sign of her in the apartment. She must have an afternoon class to get to. Lexa decides to just wear a black sweater and her black skinny jeans, using the braille labels on them to help her tell which ones they are.

She’s in the middle of blow drying her hair when she hears a knock on the door.

She quickly ties her hair up into a bun, and feels around the table in her room for her sunglasses. She eventually finds them next to her pile of books, and she puts them on as she makes her way out of her room to answer the door.

“Hi.” She says as she answers it.

“Hey.”

“Clarke?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Lexa smiles. “Hey. I got your note, is Raven okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. I’m glad you got it, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to read it or something.”

“No, Anya showed me it when she got back this morning.”

“Right. That’s good. Are you ready?”

Lexa smiles, picking her stick up off of the table.

“For breakfast? Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ clarkestiddys if u want


	3. Chapter 3

_“We all dream of finding that one person whom will love us even after there are no more tomorrows.”_   
― Faye Hall

* * *

 

“Where are we going?”

She wants to tell her that it’s a surprise, but for some reason that makes it sound like this is a _date_ and it’s not. It’s not a date. So she tells her that they’re going to a café near Clarke and Raven’s apartment building, and she tries not to melt at the small smile on Lexa’s face as they make their way to the café in Clarke’s car.

It’s not a date.

She takes every chance she can to look at Lexa whenever they stop at a red light, and every single time she thinks that Lexa is beautiful, but it’s not a date.

By the time they get there, it’s already 11:30, and Clarke thinks maybe it’s a little too late for breakfast so they both decide to get an omelette.

(“I’m pretty sure omelettes aren’t specifically breakfast foods, right?”

“Whatever you say, Clarke.”)

And Clarke thought that it would be awkward, sitting in a quiet café on a Friday morning with someone she literally met last night, but she’s talking about how they’re going to the beach on Monday and how it’ll be cool if Lexa comes, and she doesn’t even give herself a _chance_ to make it awkward.

She talks a lot when she’s nervous.

She talks a lot on dates too, but this isn’t a date so there’s no need for all the anarchy going on inside her head.

But Lexa tells her, after feeling around the table for the glass of water that the waiter brought over five minutes ago, that yes, the beach sounds lovely. And she’s so polite that Clarke thinks maybe she’s from another planet.

“It’ll be chill,” Clarke says, internally cringing at her choice of words. _Who says that?_ “I mean,” she pauses, clearing her throat. “Hopefully. There’ll be a few of us. Just drinking at the beach. It’ll be nice.”

“Drinking.” Lexa repeats.

“Yeah.”

“What if you get caught?”

“Then we run,” Clarke laughs, but then she sees that Lexa has a pretty neutral expression on her face and she’s not sure why but she feels like she’s mad. “We won’t get caught.”

“But what if we do?”

Clarke hates that she sounds worried.

“You won’t get left behind,” Clarke says, and she’s not sure if this is what Lexa’s worried about but she still hopes it makes her feel a little better about the situation. “I’ll make it my personal duty to protect you.”

When Lexa smiles at that, Clarke begins to breathe easy again.

This girl does things to her heart that she doesn’t appreciate. It’s kind of uncalled for.

“I’m more worried about you than myself,” Lexa says. “I don’t drink.”

“You don’t? Why?”

“I don’t see the point.”

Clarke laughs. “It loosens you up. Helps you enjoy yourself.”

“It damages your liver and makes you do things you’d never do while sober.”

And there’s something about the way Lexa talks; teeth clenched, voice a little deeper and shakier, which makes Clarke shut up. Because Lexa is being serious – more serious than she thought – and she doesn’t want to pry.

_Way to go, Griffin_ , she thinks. _Already made the poor girl hate you and it hasn’t even been twenty four hours._

//

Two hours later, and she’s barely finished her story about the time her and Raven decided to get everyone in the school to vote for Octavia to be class president when her phone vibrates with a text.

**Raven:** ok listen up you beautiful bitch

Clarke’s about to ignore it but she knows that this means Raven probably has good news, and maybe it’s important.

She continues telling her story as she texts.

**Clarke:** what’s up?

It turns out that Lincoln has managed to get them a huge keg of beer and some free bottles of vodka for Monday, and before she knows it, suddenly their casual trip to the beach has turned into a beach bonfire party.

And she didn’t drink last night so she knows for a fact that Raven and Octavia will be getting her drunk – knowing them, super _super_ drunk – which is why she’s kind of rethinking the whole inviting Lexa thing. She kind of doesn’t want to mess things up with Lexa, because she has a feeling that they’re going to be seeing more of each other now that Octavia and Lincoln have practically moved in together and they always hang out.

Also, she kind of maybe wants to see more of Lexa anyway, because she’s very, very intriguing. And very, very beautiful.

_This is not a date_ , she tells herself.

“Are you texting?”

Clarke’s eyes widen, and she immediately locks her phone and puts it back in her pocket, and she instantly feels like an asshole because she’s on a _not_ -date with Lexa and texting someone else while she’s preoccupied with her second cup of coffee.

“I was, um… Yeah. How,” she swallows, “how did you know?”

“I’m blind Clarke, not deaf.” And the lightness to her tone calms Clarke down a bit. She’s not mad. “I can hear the tapping on the phone screen. Plus you just stopped talking. I thought you might have died in the middle of a sentence.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says, reaching over the table to touch Lexa’s hand, and she sees the way it makes Lexa jump. “I’m sorry,” she says again, laughing as she pulls her hand away. “God, this is probably the worst d–“ she cuts herself off.

It’s _not_ a date.

“Date?”

Damn it.

“I mean. Not date, but… you know what I mean. Friend-date?”

Lexa smiles again, and Clarke notices that she’s never actually seen Lexa smile with her teeth before. It’s always little smirks or just hints of a smile, and Clarke bets she looks beautiful when she’s really smiling.

Not that she doesn’t always look beautiful.

“ _Is_ this a date?” Lexa asks, ignoring the comment about it being a friend-date, and she takes another sip of her coffee to distract herself while she waits for Clarke’s response.

“Well, it could be.” Clarke says. Part of her really wishes she could make eye contact with Lexa. “Do you want it to be a date?”

“I thought you were with Raven,” Lexa blurts out, and Clarke’s eyes widen again.

“You…” she trails off, feeling the urge to burst out laughing rising up. “Oh God. No,” she breathes, “no, no. I’m not with Raven. We’re best friends. Just best friends.”

“Oh,” Lexa breathes out a sigh, which Clarke notices is a kind of relieved sigh, but she doesn’t mention it. “I’m sorry, it’s just… you know, the way you talk about her.”

“No, it’s fine,” Clarke laughs, “you’re not the first person to think that.”

And Clarke wants Lexa to bring up the whole dating thing again so maybe she can ask about the girl in the pictures on Lexa’s fridge, and maybe they can both decide whether this is a date or not.

“So.”

“So…”

Lexa smiles again. The tiny one that Clarke’s decided she loves.

_Just say it, Griffin._

“Just to make this clear…”

“You’re not dating Raven.” Lexa finishes, and Clarke smiles.

“And this is a date?”

“This is a date.” Lexa repeats. “If you want it to be.”

“Only if you want it to be.”

“Yeah, so… we both want it to be.”

“Then it’s a date.”

God, she really wishes she could do this whole day over now.

Instead, she continues telling Lexa some of her best stories from High School; like the time her and Raven got officially banned from being together in science labs because they tended to blow things up when they were together. And the time she got raven sent to the principal’s office because she drew a very crude caricature of their English teacher and held it up and raven laughed so much that she started choking.

And she doesn’t realize that they’ve been sitting here for three hours until she looks at the clock on the wall, eyes widening when she sees that she’s a half hour late for class.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Lexa asks. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ve just noticed that I’ve missed class. It’s fine though.”

“Are you sure? We can leave.”

“There’s only a half hour left, I’ll catch up on Monday.”

Lexa smiles, and Clarke wonders how on earth someone looks so beautiful with just a simple gesture.

“What time is it?”

“Almost three.”

“We’ve been here that long?”

“Yeah. And,” Clarke pauses, letting out a soft laugh, “and I’ve been talking your ear off, you must be dying of boredom.”

“I’m not,” Lexa answers immediately, and Clarke notices the way her hand seems to twitch on the table; as if she wants to reach out and let Clarke know that it’s okay. “I’ve enjoyed your stories,” she says, absentmindedly tapping her foot on the ground to the song that’s playing quietly.

Clarke smiles.

“Just wait ‘til you hear about the time me and Raven got sent to the principal’s office for having a thumb war.”

//

Lexa decides on the drive back to her apartment that she likes Clarke.

Not in an I-could-fall-in-love-with-this-girl type of way, but in an I-really-don’t-want-to-not-be-your-friend type of way. Which isn’t like her, because she’s not exactly the type of person who goes on sporadic dates with people she’s known for less than twenty four hours. But Clarke is nice, and she has a beautiful voice; the type that could put Lexa to sleep with a bedtime story or a song, and she’s never really felt that before.

And as much as she’s not a fan of feeling new things, things with Clarke seem very different. She can’t really explain it. She feels like maybe she’s in a bubble or something when she’s with Clarke, which is the most cliché thing she’s ever heard, but it’s true nonetheless.

Clarke’s stories about her, Raven and Octavia in high school are probably the funniest stories Lexa has ever heard. Clarke is funny and she has a nice laugh. She’s smart, too, and Lexa doesn’t doubt what Anya had told her about Clarke being beautiful.

If she wanted to, she could probably fall for this girl.

Which would normally scare her, but like she said, she’s in a bubble when she’s with Clarke. She’ll overthink this later, she’s sure of it, but for now she’s just going to listen to Clarke’s soothing voice singing the Rachel Platten song that comes on shuffle on Clarke’s phone.

For the first time, she finds herself thinking that she can’t wait for the weekend to be over.

//

They swap numbers, after Lexa explains to Clarke that if she wants to get in touch she can call or text her instead of leaving notes around that she won’t be able to read. And Clarke tells her that yeah, she does feel pretty dumb about that and she wasn’t thinking properly, but Lexa just laughs and tells her, “it’s _fine_ , Clarke.”

And Clarke likes the way her name sounds coming out of Lexa’s mouth.

And it should be weird, that Clarke misses Lexa as soon as she drops her off home, but she puts No Diggity on in the car on the way back and remembers last night, and the way Lexa complimented her singing voice.

She wonders if Lexa can sing.

She wonders a lot of things. Like who the girl was in the pictures, and if Lexa thinks about her too, and if it’ll be weird if she texts her even though they saw each other ten minutes ago. She also wonders if it’s too soon to be falling for this girl.

When she gets home, it’s like she’s kicked back into reality, because Octavia and Wick are watching Raven try and fix the TV, and she’s not sure if she even wants to know what’s going on.

“What happened?” Clarke asks, taking her phone out of her pocket when she feels it vibrate. She looks down and grins when she sees that it’s a text from Lexa.

**Lexa:** Thank you for breakfast, Clarke. I had a good time.

“Wick thought it’d be a good idea to bring his PS4 over,” Raven says from her spot behind the TV, “but pulled the frickin’ HDMI cable out too fast and broke the port.”

“Genius,” Clarke replies, not looking up from her phone.

**Clarke:** No worries. Glad you had fun :)

“How was your date?” Octavia asks, and Clarke sighs as she puts her phone back in her pocket.

“It wasn’t a date.”

But then she remembers. Remembers that they had both had a whole five minute conversation about whether it was a date or not, and she smiles as she turns around to hang her coat up on the rack beside the door.

“Yeah, and I have a six pack,” Wick says, and Clarke holds back her scoff.

She’s never been a fan of him. He’s just… not funny. And not good enough for her best friend either, but there’s something Raven sees in him that nobody else does, so she accepts him. For now.

“It was nice. We talked a lot and… it was nice.”

“Nice,” Octavia says, “is something you describe a date as.”

“You must have been on lousy dates then,” Raven chimes in from behind the TV, “if you describe them as nice.”

“She’s got a point,” Clarke says, sitting down in front of the TV. “Dates are supposed to be magical. This wasn’t magical, therefore, _not_ a date.”

She’s lying though. Sure, it wasn’t exactly the best date, but it was still kind of amazing at the same time.

“Okay,” Octavia shakes her head, standing up from where’s she’s sitting at the table. She puts her glass in the sink and picks up her bag. “You bitches better drop this attitude by the time the weekend’s over, or there’ll be no free beer for you.”

They both tell Octavia that they love her at the same time, before O leaves with a “bye my babies” and a small wave.

Clarke continues to watch Raven try to fix the TV, ignoring the smartass comments from Wick as she waits for another text from Lexa.

A half hour later, her phone vibrates again.

She can’t stop the shit-eating grin even if she tried.

//

When Clarke sees Lexa at the beach, she feels like someone has paralyzed her.

And okay, maybe it’s because she’s kind of tipsy, but it’s mostly to do with how beautiful Lexa looks.

She’s wearing black jeans and a red sweater but she still looks beautiful. An effortless type of beautiful which normally Clarke would be jealous of. But because it’s Lexa, she lets it slide.

Clarke had arrived at the beach an hour ago with Octavia and Raven. Lincoln, Bellamy and Murphy were already there when they arrived, and the others were on their way in different groups. And she likes their big group of friends, but she can’t deny that Lexa is the one she’s been most excited to see since Friday.

She greets her with a hug, and she feels Lexa tense up for a moment before realizing who she is, then tentatively returning the hug. She has her sunglasses on again, and Clarke really wants to know what she looks like without them.

Before she gets caught up in her thoughts though, she hears Raven and Octavia arguing over the last blue solo cup, and has to excuse herself to sort them both out.

She leaves Lexa smiling, and the image is printed on the back of her eyes the whole time she’s preoccupied.

//

“You like her.”

Lexa’s smile drops immediately at the words, and she shakes her head. “Who?”

“Don’t play innocent,” Anya smirks. “You like Clarke. It was a date on Friday, wasn’t it?”

“It was breakfast.”

“Who takes four hours to eat breakfast?”

“We got… we lost track of time.”

“That happens on dates.”

“Shut up.”

Anya laughs as Lexa holds onto her shoulder again, and she leads her to the drinks table where Clarke is trying to wrestle a bottle of vodka out of Murphy’s hands. Lexa can tell that Clarke’s seen her, because the struggling noises stop, and Anya laughs and she can hear someone – most likely Murphy – running away.

“Hi again,” Clarke says, and there’s a lightness to her tone that makes Lexa smile.

“Hey.”

“I have a bottle of water here, or there’s lemonade if you prefer that? They’re unopened so nobody has put any alcohol in them.”

“Water’s fine. Thank you, Clarke.”

“Do you mind if I steal her from you?” And Lexa is confused until she hears Anya tell her to stay out of trouble, and then she feels Clarke’s arm link with hers.

“Where are you taking me?”

“I’m about to change your life.”

Lexa smiles. “Then by all means, lead the way.”

She immediately feels Clarke stop, and then Clarke’s hand is holding hers and she thinks that maybe she’s going to stop breathing.

“You like Hamilton?” Clarke asks her, and Lexa laughs. She nods, and Clarke tells her that she’s suddenly her new favorite person and she just wishes Clarke was telling the truth.

She wouldn’t mind being Clarke’s favorite person.

“Okay, cover your eyes. Wait. Oh God, I’m sorry,” Clarke laughs. “Shit.”

“It’s okay.”

“I forgot.”

“It’s okay,” she repeats, smiling as she lets Clarke lead the way.

Five minutes later, and Lexa starts to worry. She hasn’t known Clarke for long, so she could very much be taking her somewhere to get murdered, or who knows what else psychopaths do. Maybe she’s gonna gut her, chop her up into a million pieces, or hang her up on a Jesus cross and let her starve. The point is, she doesn’t know where they are. And she’s kind of scared.

And it’s not until she feels Clarke let go of her hand that she actually voices her concerns.

“Clarke.”

“Yeah?”

Maybe it’s not the being murdered part that she’s scared of.

“Where are we?”

Maybe it’s just Clarke.

And she can practically sense Clarke smiling, and she hears her put something down on the floor before holding onto her hand again. It makes her jump.

“Guess.”

“I… I don’t know.”

Clarke pulls her to sit down, guiding her legs to hang off of the edge of the blanket she’d put down. She feels like she’s going to fall.

“The pier,” Clarke whispers, scooting closer to Lexa so their arms are touching. “Isn’t it quiet?”

Lexa’s still scared of falling, but not off of the pier.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” she says, putting her hand down on the blanket. Only, she ends up putting it on Clarke’s hand, and she’s about to move it away when she feels Clarke tangle their fingers together.

“This is okay, right?” Clarke asks, and it’s in that whisper that makes Lexa’s heart clench, and she should’ve known that this would happen.

“It’s fine. It’s good.” She clears her throat. “Thank you for bringing me.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

Lexa shakes her head. “I’m… nervous. That’s all. You make me nervous.”

“Why?”

“Anya told me you’re pretty,” she blurts out. “I… I’m not good with pretty girls.”

She hears Clarke laugh, and her heart clenches just that little bit tighter.

“Are you scared of pretty girls and starting conversations?”

“Shut up,” Lexa laughs.

“It’s okay.” Her tone is reassuring. “But hey. You may look back at this one day as the best thing that ever happened to you,” Clarke says, and she tries not to notice the way Lexa blushes, as she whispers;

“Maybe.”

//

It’s a solid eight minutes – Lexa counts – before Clarke untangles their hands.

She tries not to think about how she already misses the contact, but Clarke dives into a story about the time Raven dropped her phone off of the pier and Lexa likes the sound of Clarke’s laugh.

She likes Clarke’s stories.

And she really likes Clarke.

Especially the way Clarke entwines their hands again thirty seconds later.

They fall into a comfortable silence, and Lexa likes this. She likes that there’s no annoying drunk teenagers yelling at each other, and no loud music perforating her eardrums, and best of all, no one to steal Clarke away from her.

All she can hear is the sea splashing against the pier and the sound of Clarke breathing.

“Can I touch you?”

Her eyes widen, and she can’t believe she’s just blurted that out. Here, of all places, at a party with loads of people around. She’s not sure if everyone else can see or hear them, but she’d rather not have people picking on her for asking that so loudly.

But Clarke laughs, and she says, “You’ll have to take me to dinner first” but in a way that calms Lexa’s thoughts, and she thinks maybe it’s okay.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lexa says, ignoring the way her heart is pounding. “I just…” she gulps, “I really wish I could see you.”

“It’s okay,” Clarke interrupts. Her tone is soft. Comforting. And Lexa’s not one to wish for her sight to magically come back – because she’s accepted that she’ll never see again – but it doesn’t stop her from wanting to know exactly what Clarke looks like right now. With the ocean breeze blowing her hair, and the sun shining on her face. She wonders what she looks like blushing. Wonders if her cheeks redden like Anya’s.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Clarke’s hands holding hers, leading them up to her face, and she smiles.

“I thought this only happened in movies,” Clarke whispers.

“It helps a lot,” Lexa says, her hands holding onto Clarke’s cheeks. “It gives me an idea of what you look like. Kind of.”

She feels Clarke smile, actually feels it, and it kind of makes her blush. She bets Clarke has a pretty smile.

She splays her fingers out slightly, her face falling into somber concentration, and she feels the way Clarke stops smiling too. The tips of her fingers stroke up Clarke’s temples, up into her hairline before moving in and over her forehead.

“Your skin is really soft,” she whispers, and she feels Clarke breathe out a soft laugh against her wrists.

“Thank you.”

She moves one hand to the side of Clarke’s face where her finger tips lightly rest on Clarke’s earlobe, the other one stroking over her eyebrows and down and around her eyes. She feels how soft her hair is.

“What color is your hair?”

“Blonde.”

Both hands find their way into Clarke’s hair, feeling from the roots down to the tips, which rest just past her shoulders. She moves her hands though. She doesn’t want to accidentally grope Clarke again like she did on Thursday night. She’s not sure Clarke will be so forgiving a second time.

Both her thumbs rub across Clarke’s cheekbones, down her face until they’re both lightly touching her bottom lip.

“Your lips are thinner than I expected.”

“Sorry,” Clarke laughs, but Lexa shakes her head with a smile.

“I like them. I mean,” she clears her throat, “they’re nice. Good job.”

Clarke laughs again, and this time Lexa joins in.

She continues to feel Clarke’s face; her top lip and the bridge of her nose and the space in-between both of her eyebrows, before her hands move out and stop when they feel Clarke’s eyelids.

“What color are your eyes?”

“Blue,” Clarke whispers. Her voice is husky now, which makes Lexa nervous.

And she hears Clarke take another breath in, only she doesn’t hear her let one back out. She holds her breath too, as the pads of her thumbs stroke back down Clarke’s face, passing her jawline before resting on her neck.

“You feel beautiful.”

Clarke lets out that breath she was holding.

“You can tell all that just from feeling my face?”

“Yeah,” she moves her hands away and rests them back in her own lap. “It’s like a _thing_ , I don’t know. You just–you have a nice face.”

“Thank you,” Clarke says, and then, “you have a nice face too.”

//

When Lexa’s hands touch Clarke’s face, it feels different. It doesn’t feel like a friend feeling another friend’s face to see what their features are like. It feels intimate. Caring.

It feels like they might kiss.

They don’t though, and Clarke has to ignore the part of her that’s disappointed when Lexa removes her hands and tells her that she feels most of her friend’s faces to get an idea of what they look like.

They return to the party not long after, with Clarke mentioning that she didn’t bring any drinks or snacks to the pier. Which Clarke’s okay with, because it gives her an excuse to get more alcohol into her system so that maybe she can get the confidence to tell Lexa how she feels later on.

Because Lexa’s different. Because she makes Clarke feel things. Things she never knew she could feel. She knew Lexa was different ever since she first laid eyes on her, which she hasn’t felt before; not since Finn. In fact, all thoughts of Finn seem to disappear when she’s with Lexa. Normally she’d brush that off and ignore the things she’s feeling, but it’s something that she can’t exactly disregard. It’s a big deal, in her book.

And man, she just really hopes this whole thing works out.

//

She tells Octavia and Raven the truth that night when they’re back at Clarke and Raven’s apartment, scoffing as much pizza as they can before they go to bed. And Clarke’s not sure it’s a good idea, but her mouth is formulating words before her brain catches up, and it’s too late.

“I think I like her, ya know,” she says, and it’s too casual for them to take her seriously. They carry on stuffing their faces – Raven’s still drinking for some reason – until Clarke speaks up again. “I think I might like Lexa.”

They both stop, looking at Clarke with their mouths full of food. She absentmindedly twists the anchor bracelet that’s on her wrist.

“Say what now?” Raven asks, and Octavia laughs, almost choking on her food.

“I know I’ve known her like four days but I think… I like her. She’s different.”

“She’s a _history_ major.”

“She’s _interesting_ ,” Clarke says, frowning at Raven. “She’s… I don’t know. I like her.”

Raven smiles. Then Octavia smiles.

Clarke knows what’s coming.

She throws some chips at them just as they start singing “Clarke and Lexa sitting in a tree” and she immediately knows that they’re okay with it.

//

When Lexa wakes up, she instantly checks her phone for any messages.

She doesn’t know what she’s expecting, but a missed call and a voicemail from Clarke is definitely not it. She dials her voicemail though, and immediately smiles when she hears Clarke’s voice.

**_“Hey Lexa, you um, you left your bracelet at the beach. It was hidden under one of the towels and I just wanted to let you know that I have it. In case you thought you lost it. I can bring it to you if you want. I get back from the gym at four so, um, I can drop it off then. Okay. See you.”_ **

Lexa can’t stop herself from smiling after listening to the message, and if anybody asks, she totally doesn’t redial her voicemail and listen to it again, just to hear Clarke’s voice.

She likes the way she sounds.

She calls Clarke back, holding her breath as it rings.

_“Hey Lexa.”_

“Hi. I got your voicemail.”

_“That’s… cool. Cool. You want me to bring it over? How are you feeling?”_

Lexa grins, pulling her covers off of her and getting out of bed.

“I should be asking you that question. You were pretty drunk last night.”

_“Yeah, sorry about that. Although Raven and Octavia were worse.”_

She hears Raven in the background, telling Clarke to tell her girlfriend to come over for movie night, and she blushes.

_“Did you hear that?”_

“No,” she lies. “What?”

_“We’re having a movie night tonight. You and Anya can come over if you’d like.”_

“Um...” She makes her way out of the room, dragging her arm across the wall as she counts her steps until she’s in the kitchen. “I have a paper to write.”

_“That’s cool too.”_ Lexa smiles as she opens the fridge. _“We have them every Tuesday so you’re welcome any time.”_

“I can do next Tuesday.”

She pours some orange juice into a glass, holding her phone upright in the space between her cheek and shoulder, before putting the juice back in the fridge and holding her phone properly.

Clarke tells her that she’ll bring her bracelet over sometime today, and she’s about to tell her that it’s okay, she’ll get it when they next see each other, when she hears a clatter at the other end, then it goes quiet. She can hear some screaming in the back which kind of frightens her, but they’re screaming about pancakes, so she doesn’t worry too much. Then Clarke is on the phone again, telling her that she has to go before quickly hanging up.

She drinks the rest of her juice and goes for a shower. She doesn’t want to look bad when Clarke gets here.

//

Clarke’s on the phone with Lexa when Raven finds out that it’s free-pancake day at IHOP.

And Raven being Raven, decides to jump at Clarke as soon as she manages to stand up, which sends Clarke’s phone flying across the room.

“Raven!” Clarke yells, and she’s bent over with Raven on her back, shoving her phone in Clarke’s face as she struggles to throw Raven off. But Raven’s not budging, because she needs Clarke to drive them to IHOP like _now_ , and she needs Clarke to be as excited as she is right now.

And Clarke is. Because as soon as she reads the text from Octavia on Raven’s phone, Clarke’s jumping – or at least _trying_ to jump, but Raven’s making it pretty hard – up and down, and she almost forgets about the fact that Lexa is on the phone.

She throws Raven off of her, and Raven lands on the floor with the most cartoon-like sounding thud that Clarke has ever heard, and she can hardly breathe because she’s laughing so much.

She picks up her phone, telling Lexa she has to go. She ends the call and looks over at Raven, who is still laid on the floor.

“Come on, Reyes!” She yells, getting her purse off of the counter before running to the door. She’s still laughing.

“Clarke!”

“What?”

Raven turns over so she’s laid on her back, and she’s chuckling as she holds her hand out, waiting for Clarke to help her up.

“Come on!” Clarke groans, helping Raven up. “We have to go before they’re all gone.”

“Okay but, Clarke. I’m gonna need you to put some pants on before we go.”

She looks down and notices that shit, she’s not wearing anything other than a shirt and her underwear, and she grunts before running into her bedroom to put some leggings on.

When Raven tells her to hurry up, she doesn’t take responsibility for the pillow that flies through the air and hits Raven in the back of her head.

Or the way she leaves the door to shut in Raven’s face as she sprints out of their apartment building.

She’s already in the car and ready to go by the time Raven is out of the apartment.

“You could have waited, you fuckin’ assho–oh God, why the hell are you listening to this?” Raven gets in and closes the door, immediately taking Clarke’s phone off of the dashboard. It had started to automatically play the playlist she was listening to in the shower, and NO by Megan Trainor happened to be the song that came on next.

She can’t help it, it’s a catchy song.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put on a song that you like.” Raven passes Clarke’s phone to her after disconnecting it from the Bluetooth.

“Just put your seatbelt on, Reyes.”

Raven does as she’s told as she scrolls through her own phone to look for a song.

Clarke isn’t surprised when No Hands by Waka Flocka comes on and Raven turns it up as loud as she can – almost deafening the two of them in the process – as Clarke pulls out of her parking space in front of the apartment building.

“I fucking hate you,” she yells over the music, and Raven has a shit-eating grin on her face as she pushes Clarke’s arm, getting her to sing along with her as Clarke drives out onto the main road.

“Girl the way you movin' got me in a trance, DJ turn me up, ladies this yo jam, I’ma sip moscato and you gon' lose them pants, and I’ma throw this money while you do it with no hands. Girl DROP IT TO THE FLOOR, I LOVE THE WAY YO BOOTY GOOO–“

“–RAVEN!”

Raven laughs loudly but continues to sing, sitting up in her seat as she winds the window all the way down. And they get some strange looks from passersby as Raven tries to rap along, with Clarke shaking her head at her moron of a best friend, but Raven doesn’t care.

They’re listening to Chance The Rapper when Clarke pulls into the IHOP parking lot and groans when she sees that there are no parking spaces available.

“Dude, there,” Raven points to an empty spot, and Clarke pulls out and drives into the space, making sure not to hit the two cars at either side.

She turns the car engine off and unclips her seatbelt, opening her door as Raven does the same.

“I’m so ready for these pancakes,” Raven says, and Clarke smiles as she reaches into the car for her purse, before shutting the door and locking it.

Octavia and Lincoln are already there by the time they’re seated, talking about some fancy dress party that the University is hosting on Friday. It’s apparently a post-apocalyptic theme, which okay, sounds pretty cool. Most fancy dress parties are either 60’s or animal themed. This one, she’ll definitely be going to.

She’s surprised – and she can’t hide the way she perks up a little – when Lexa is mentioned in conversation. And it’s Lincoln who brings her up, telling them that Lexa’s not really one for parties but she might be going to this one.

“Lexa’s going?”

Everyone turns to look at her.

Lincoln nods. “Anya’s making her.”

She smiles and she says “cool” and she can tell that her attempt at being nonchalant doesn’t work, but she doesn’t really care. She’s glad Lexa is going.

The conversation moves on to last night and Clarke zones out again, listening to only random snippets of conversation.

She tries to ignore the way her heart skips a beat whenever anybody mentions Lexa’s name.

It’s no big deal.

//

She’s just got out of her 3PM lecture when she feels her phone vibrating in her pocket.

She adjusts her books so they’re in the same hand as her stick, and she’s about to take her phone out of her pocket when she feels it stop vibrating.

“Hello?” She jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder, shying away from the touch. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s me. Clarke.”

“Oh,” she breathes out a relieved sigh. “Hi. What’re you doing here?”

“Oh! Anya text Raven saying she had a last-minute meeting with a professor and that you had nobody to pick you up so I offered.”

Lexa smiles as Clarke takes her hand, before putting something in it. She feels it, and for a moment she’s not quite sure what it is and she’s about to ask, before she realizes it’s the bracelet that Clarke was supposed to be dropping off in an hour or so.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the gym?”

“There are more important things than the gym,” Clarke says, taking Lexa’s hand and putting it on her shoulder. “Want me to carry your books?”

“No,” Lexa shakes her head, but she can’t stop the butterflies from forming in her stomach. Clarke is really nice; nicer than she ever thought anybody could be at their age. Most people she’s met wouldn’t ditch their plans just to pick her up from a lecture. She’s lost count of how many times she’s had to call Anya or Lincoln – ever since middle school – to come get her because someone has forgot.

And it’s not like she can just shrug it off and make her way back home by herself, because even though she counts her steps and roughly knows the exact location of her lecture buildings, she doesn’t have a guide dog or anything to show her the way home if she forgets or loses count. And even though she jokes that Anya is her guide dog, she can’t exactly expect her to drop everything to cater for her needs.

Which is why she can’t stop smiling as Clarke tells her about her day as they both make their way to Clarke’s car.

“I can give you a few dollars for gas money,” Lexa says after she’s put her seatbelt on. “It’s the least I could do.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Lexa hears the engine start, and she fiddles with the ends of her fingers anxiously as Clarke sets off.

“I want to.”

“It’s really no big deal. Honestly, it’s just a relief knowing you’re safe.”

She smiles, turning her head away so Clarke can’t see her.

“It would still make me feel better knowing I repaid you.”

“How about a second date?”

The car is silent, and Lexa can hear that Clarke is holding her breath again.

The girl’s gonna end up dead if she makes her wait any longer, so she whispers “okay” as she feels the car slow down to a stop.

“Yeah? How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow sounds good.”

“Awesome,” Clarke says, setting off again, and Lexa doesn’t realize she’s still smiling until she hears Clarke turn the radio on; Want to Want Me by Jason Derulo substituting the silence.

“God, I hate this song.”

When Clarke starts singing along though, Lexa thinks that maybe it’s not so bad.

She can’t wait until tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

“ _The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it._ ”   
― Nicholas Sparks, At First Sight

* * *

 

Lexa’s not exactly someone who cares about how she looks.

Sure, she has to run her dress choices by Anya before leaving the house just in case she picks up something that has a coffee stain on it, but most of the time she looks fine. Plus, almost everything she owns goes well with black jeans or grey sweatpants, so she doesn’t have to worry about her outfit not matching. 

Despite this, it takes at least two hours to decide what to wear on her second date with Clarke.

Clarke’s supposed to pick her up in five minutes though, and Lexa still hasn’t decided between the black dress or the black sweater.

“Seriously, I’ve seen the way Clarke looks at you,” Anya says from her spot on Lexa’s bed where she’s holding onto Lexa’s glasses, “It’s kind of disgusting. She’ll love you in anything.”

Lexa sighs, closing her eyes and turning around to face Anya.

“Should I put the dress on?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Anya gets up, snatching the dress out of Lexa’s hand before putting it back in her closet; on the far left where all the other dresses are. “There, I’ve hidden it. You can’t change now.”

“You put it in the closet; I can just get it back out.”

Lexa jumps when she feels Anya’s hands on her shoulders, but she relaxes straight away.

She takes a deep breath.

“You look great, okay?”

She lets the breath out.

“Sorry,” Lexa whispers. “I’m just nervous.”

“I know.”

“Where are my glasses?”

Anya takes her hands off of Lexa’s shoulders and smiles as she slips the glasses onto Lexa’s face, telling her that Clarke won’t mind if she doesn’t wear them for the night. Lexa just shakes her head though and tells Anya that she’s not taking them off.

Anya understands.

So she leans in to kiss Lexa’s forehead and tells her to stop being so shaky because Clarke  _ likes _ her, and it kind of calms her down.

Kind of.

Okay, it doesn’t really calm her at all, because there’s a knock at the door and suddenly she wants the earth to swallow her whole.

“I’ll get it,” Anya says, tapping Lexa’s cheek before leaving the room.

//

Clarke’s trying on her eighth outfit when she realizes she has to pick Lexa up in ten minutes.

She’s tried on the short black dress that Raven bought her for her eighteenth birthday. (It shows way too much skin.) She’s tried on the white jeans and pink sweater. (Wasn’t formal enough to be date attire.) She’s tried on practically everything in her closet, and though she’s managed to narrow it down to two dresses, she has to go  _ now _ .

“Shit,” she hisses to herself, quickly slipping on the floral dress that she had bought from Charlotte Russe a while back. She leaves the other dress – a navy blue one with a white collar – on the bed before picking up her purse. She has to tiptoe over all the clothes littering her bedroom floor to make it out of her room in one piece, but she tells herself she’ll clean it up later.

“Aw, would you just look at that,” Octavia coos as Clarke comes out of her room, “our little Clarkey, all grown up and ready to go on a date.”

“Blow me, Blake.”

Clarke hears Lincoln mention something about how Octavia better not be blowing anybody that isn’t him, and she grunts as she looks for her keys.

Before she can make it out of the door, she’s stopped by Raven who is looking at her with fake – she  _ hopes _ they’re fake – tears in her eyes.

“Look at you,” Raven says, putting her hands on Clarke’s shoulders. “You’ve grown up so fast.”

She groans, throwing Raven’s hands off of her as Lincoln and Octavia start to laugh.

“I’m gonna be late, so if you’ll excuse me...” She slips past Raven, smiling when Raven tells her to use protection and Octavia tells her not to give it up until the fifth date.

She likes to tell herself that she hates them sometimes, and that they’re all idiots; but they’re  _ her _ idiots, and she loves them to pieces.

//

Clarke is thinking about whether or not it’d be a bad idea if she turned around and cancelled last minute when she hears the door open. She turns around, seeing Anya standing in the doorway.

“Hi. Is Lexa–?”

“She’s almost ready. Come in.”

Clarke steps past the threshold, and she’s not sure she’s ever held onto her purse so tightly before. She’s pretty sure her knuckles have gone white, and her hands won’t stop shaking.

She hears the tapping of Lexa’s stick, and then Lexa’s stepping out of her room.

“Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late, I…” she trails off; words get caught in her throat and it’s the most cliché thing that has ever happened to her but she can’t stop it. Lexa looks beautiful. More beautiful than Clarke thought was possible.

“Clarke?”

“Yeah,” she clears her throat. “I, uh. I couldn’t decide what to wear.”

“Well, I think you look great.”

“Thanks,” Clarke smiles, but her smile drops and her eyebrows knit together because, “wait,” she says, “that was a joke, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Clarke.” Lexa smiles. “That was a joke.”

“You two are gross.”

Clarke laughs nervously, nodding when Anya tells her to have Lexa home by ten. It’s only when Anya laughs that Clarke realizes she’s joking too.

She’s fucking nervous, okay.

Lexa walks up to her though and tells Anya to behave, and Anya gives her a small shove on the arm before they go. It calms Clarke down a bit when Lexa puts her hand on her shoulder as they walk down the hall and into the elevator.

She may be nervous, but she’s going to do her damn best to make this the best date Lexa has ever had.

//

It takes Lexa ten minutes after they set off to ask where they’re going.

But Clarke tells her that it’s a surprise, and this time she’s not afraid to say that because this is actually a date – and they’re both aware of the fact that it’s a date – and she’s maybe a little too excited about the fact that it’s a date because Lexa is beautiful and it’s rare that she finds someone she likes who likes her back.

“Can you give me a clue?”

“Nope,” Clarke says, popping the ‘p’. It makes Lexa smile.

Of course, Clarke notices, because Lexa’s all she’s been looking at for the past ten minutes.

They’re linking arms, and although Lexa thinks it’s easier to walk while holding the other person's shoulder, she kind of enjoys being this close to Clarke. It makes her feel safe, and she’s looking forward to what Clarke has in store for her.

They had texted before the date, with Clarke asking Lexa if there was anywhere she preferred to go. Lexa kept it simple though, seeing as she likes to do pretty much anything. It had been hard for Clarke to find somewhere unique, but she eventually found somewhere that she thought the two of them would enjoy.

They walk for another ten minutes until Clarke tells her that they’ve arrived.

“Is this the part where you murder me and leave me on the side of the road?” Lexa hears Clarke open a door, and she smiles as Clarke tells her that nope, that’s not something she does on the second date; the fourth or fifth is when she pulls out the machetes.

It’s nice, Lexa thinks, that they can joke around so easily. It’s not often she can do that with someone other than Anya or Lincoln. Most people she meets are always so protective of her; always asking her if she wants to leave, or if she wants to sit down for a bit, or if she wants to do something else, or if she’s uncomfortable. Like, she gets it, she’s blind. She doesn’t need reminders every ten seconds.

Clarke leads her up two flights of stairs, walking down a narrow corridor until they stop outside of a room which has some Waltz-type dance music playing.

“Clarke?”

“Give it a chance,” Clarke says, taking Lexa’s hand in hers. It urges Lexa to take a deep breath in, because although it’s only a small gesture, holding hands with Clarke is oddly… intimate. She’s still not sure whether she likes that feeling or not.

“What are we doing?”

She hears the music get louder, and she guesses that Clarke has opened the door separating them from the other room, and then Clarke leads her into the room, walking her to the left hand-side where they stop again.

“Dancing lessons.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “What?”

“Give it a chance,” Clarke repeats, slowly running her right hand down Lexa’s arm and stopping when she touches her folded-up stick. She takes it off of Lexa and smiles when Lexa lets her, leaning down and putting it on the bench that’s beside them, along with hers and Lexa’s purses.

“What kind of dancing is it?”

“Mostly ballroom. Little bit of waltz,” Clarke says. “Maybe a bit of hip hop.”

Lexa’s mouth widens, “Clarke–“

“–Relax,” Clarke grins. “I’m kidding.”

Lexa lightly reaches out to hit Clarke on the shoulder, but misjudges the distance between them and, “shit,” she quickly says, pulling her hand away quickly and holding it over her mouth.

“Second time in less than a week, Woods.” Clarke laughs. “I’m starting to think you only want me for my boobs.”

Lexa shakes her head with a small smile, her hand moving up to her forehead. “I’m sorry,” she says. But Clarke takes her hand again and tells her it’s fine, and she pulls her other hand away.

Part of Lexa wishes that when Clarke pulled her hand away and she opened her eyes, she’d suddenly be able to see. Maybe watch the way Clarke’s eyes light up when she laughs, or see how she looks when she’s blushing. She’s not one to wish for her sight back, but oh what she’d give to be able to get a taste of what Clarke looks like exactly. Even for just a minute. She’d use every second to take in Clarke’s features, so that when they’re not together, she can imagine they are.

She shouldn’t be in this deep already. Not after everything that’s happened. But the feeling of Clarke’s hand in hers makes her feel safe.

She hasn’t felt that in a while.

Her thoughts are interrupted by – who she guesses is – the dance teacher; her voice echoing around the room loudly; so much so that it’s enough to make Lexa miss what she says.

“What did she say?”

“She’s just introducing herself,” Clarke whispers as the woman continues talking.

“How many people are here?”

“About twenty.”

Lexa nods, guessing the room is pretty big considering there’s ten couples who will be all dancing at the same time. She’s kind of nervous, too. She’s never been dancing before. In fact, she’s not sure she’s ever danced full stop; save for the little dances that only require hand gestures that she does in Anya’s car when they’re listening to any song that has a good enough beat to dance to.

This is whole new territory though, and although she’s kind of nervous, she’s also excited.

“You ready?” Clarke asks her, and all Lexa can do is nod as she waits for more instruction. “Okay, you place your hand here.” Clarke takes Lexa’s hand and places it on her shoulder, keeping their other hands linked as she brings them both up to their sides. She places her free hand gently on Lexa’s waist, and Lexa jumps slightly at the unexpected contact.

“That’s it,” the instructor says, speaking to everyone in the room. “Remember! Keep your spines straight!”

Lexa straightens her spine. “Okay, what now?”

“Patience,” Clarke whispers, and Lexa breathes out a small sigh when she hears footsteps coming towards her.

“Good,” the dance teacher says. She sounds old. And she’s walking away from them within seconds, making Lexa smile.

“We’ve got the hang of it already,” she says, and she hears Clarke breathe out a laugh.

“You’re a natural.”

“Okay class,” Lexa hears from the other side of the room. “Followers, you’re gonna want to start with your right foot. Right foot back, small step left, left foot forward, small step right.”

“Am I the follower?” she asks Clarke, and Clarke tells her yes, it’d be best if she followed. Only, she can’t remember what the woman had said, and she doesn’t really want to mess this up. She doesn’t want Clarke to think she’s stupid.

Then the music starts – John Mayer’s ‘Gravity’ – and Lexa jumps again when she feels Clarke speak, much closer than she was before.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. She’s going a bit too fast though.”

“Just follow my lead, okay?”

“It’s kinda hard when I can’t  _ see _ you lead.”

“Then  _ feel _ it,” Clarke whispers. “Right foot back.” She nudges Lexa’s foot with her own, and Lexa moves it back. “Good. Small step left, left foot forward, small step right.”

“Isn’t the teacher supposed to, ya know,” Lexa swallows, “ _ teach _ us?”

“She’s trying,” Clarke smiles. “But I’m a  _ way _ better teacher.”

Then Clarke takes a step forward again, but Lexa doesn’t react quickly enough and she almost falls backwards; Clarke stopping her quickly with each one of her hands on Lexa’s waist, steadying her and holding her upright.

“Sorry,” Lexa whispers nervously. But Clarke tells her that it’s okay, and she smiles as they get back into position.

“Ready?” Lexa nods, her glasses sliding down her nose a little. “You can take them off if you want.”

Lexa shakes her head though, removing her hand from Clarke’s shoulder to push them back up her nose, before tentatively placing her hand back. They continue to do the box step, Clarke leading and Lexa following; backwards, to the left, forwards, to the right. Over and over again, until the song is finished.

And yeah, she still messes up a little, but it makes Clarke laugh and she likes the sound of Clarke’s laugh. Eventually though, after a few more songs have played and the teacher introduces them to a more complicated step, Lexa finally gets the hang of it and they’re dancing so effortlessly that Lexa feels like they were made for this.

Together.

“You actually  _ are _ a natural,” Clarke says, squeezing Lexa’s waist gently. She smiles.

“I was overthinking it,” Lexa whispers. “I thought I wouldn’t get the hang of it.”

Clarke beams a little, watching as Lexa nervously stands in front of her, one hand still on her shoulder and the other still holding onto hers. Their hands have gotten pretty sweaty now, but neither of them wants to let go.

“Do you want to finish up?” Clarke asks. She didn’t realize they’d been here that long until she looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was almost seven.

Lexa’s about to answer, but she stops when she hears Come Away With Me by Norah Jones start playing over the speaker.

“One more dance,” she says as Norah’s voice fills the room.

She takes a deep breath, letting go of Clarke’s hand and putting it on her other shoulder. Immediately, Clarke’s other hand falls to her waist, and Lexa smiles as she leans in slightly, turning her head so their temples are resting against each other.

They’re not doing the box step anymore. They’re stepping side to side, and occasionally Lexa accidentally stands on Clarke’s foot, but there’s no pressure for it to be perfect. Lexa closes her eyes, relaxes, taking in another deep breath as she wraps her arms around Clarke’s neck. Clarke immediately hugs her closer.

Lexa rests her head in the crook between Clarke’s neck and shoulder as they sway and turn slowly, and Clarke’s thumbs rub soothingly on her waist, stroking the fabric of her sweater and making her almost fall asleep with just how comfortable she feels. She’s never had this; she’s never been able to trust someone so easily, to fall into this rhythm that they seem to have mastered in a matter of a couple of hours. It scares her though. She’s not sure how serious Clarke is about this, not sure if this is just an experiment for her; to see if she can handle a blind girl.

Though she trusts Clarke not to do that to her – and she  _ does _ trust Clarke, maybe a little too much considering they haven’t even known each other for a week – she’s still a little scared.

“What’s your middle name?” Clarke whispers, and Lexa can’t help the smile that spreads across her face. She lifts her head up slightly, her mouth hovering next to Clarke’s ear.

“I don’t have one. You?”

“Abigail. After my mom.”

“Are you two close?”

Lexa feels Clarke nod. “As close as we can be. She’s in California for work.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Green,” Clarke pauses for a few seconds. “Do you remember seeing colors?”

“A little. I remember how blue my mom’s eyes were before she…”

Clarke pulls her closer, their chests almost touching as they continue to sway back and forth slowly.

“Before she died,” Lexa finishes.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. What’s your favorite breakfast food?”

“Chocolate croissants,” Clarke smiles. “Yours?”

“Toast with strawberry jelly.”

“Gross.”

Lexa laughs, resting her temple against Clarke’s again. “What’s your favorite movie?”

“The Fast and Furious franchise, hands down.”

“Good choice. Mine’s Easy A.”

“Do you have any tattoos?”

“Three,” Lexa says. Clarke’s eyebrows raise a little at that. “My arm, my back, and my neck.” Clarke hopes she’ll get to see them one day. “Do you?”

“One on my left wrist.”

“What is it?”

“A deer.”

“I’ve never seen a deer before.”

Clarke smiles sadly, leaning her head further into Lexa’s.

It’s in that moment that Clarke realizes what they’re doing. They’re still slow dancing, even though the song is over and another song is playing; one with a completely different beat. But they’re still swaying from side to side, and Lexa is still hugging her, and her hands are still on Lexa’s waist, and they’re comfortable.

That’s when she realizes that she likes Lexa.

That she  _ wants _ her.

She wants her in the most innocent way, too.

She wants them to carry on dancing, staying like this and getting to know more about each other. She wants to go to the party on Friday with Lexa as her date. She wants to take Lexa home and kiss her on her doorstep. But she also wants Lexa to invite her inside so they can sleep together. Not have sex, but fall asleep in each other’s arms. She wants to hug Lexa from behind and kiss the back of her neck; to make her feel special, loved, cared for. She wants to run her hands over Lexa’s tattoos and listen to the stories behind them. She wants Lexa to feel her, to get to know every small detail of her until there’s nothing more else to know.

She wants to be able to look Lexa in the eye and tell her that it’s possible that she could fall in love with her.

What she  _ doesn’t _ want, above all else, is for this day to end.

The teacher soon wraps it up though, and they’re the last ones to leave; they walk out of the building with big smiles on their faces and their hands intertwined.

Lexa tells her that she had fun, and Clarke smiles, because this date is far from over.

“Come on,” Clarke says, “it’s not even eight. I’m taking you for ice cream.”

When Lexa smiles, Clarke thinks that maybe she could already be falling for her, slowly.

And that scares the shit out of her.

//

She gets a text from Raven asking her how the date is going, but she opts to ignore it in favor of listening to Lexa tell her about how she used to run track in high school with Anya.

She was never the best at sports herself. She, Raven, and Octavia opted to mess around in gym rather than take part. She doesn’t regret it though. Her high school years hold some of her best memories, most of which are thanks to Raven and Octavia.

Lexa tells Clarke, over ice cream, that she and Anya were inseparable at school. That they’d been best friends since before they could talk, along with Lincoln too. She tells Clarke that they both helped her a lot when she found out she was going blind. She can’t remember much, seeing as she was six years old, but she remembers that Lincoln saved up his allowance for months so he could buy her a braille watch.

She extends her hand over the table, showing Clarke the watch with a small smile.

After all these years, she hasn’t gone a day without wearing it.

“You guys are really close,” Clarke says with a smile as she holds onto Lexa’s hand, examining the watch. The face opens with the push of a small button that sits on the edge, and the time can be read by feeling where the hands are. The numbers have little bumps on them so you know which number is which, and Clarke thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.

She’s always been fascinated by braille. Always loved the idea of being able to feel words instead of see them. To feel  _ things _ instead of seeing them. She wonders if there’s any way she can help Lexa out. Maybe 3D print out Lexa’s pictures so she can feel what they’re like. She’s sure Polis has a 3D printer in one of the art or engineering departments.

She thinks about the pictures on Lexa’s fridge. Thinks about the girl on them, and if Lexa knows what she looks like; knows what she  _ feels _ like.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Lexa swallows a spoonful of her ice cream and nods. Her glasses fall down her nose a bit and she pushes them up with her knuckle, before eating another spoonful of ice cream.

“Who’s the girl in the photographs?”

Lexa frowns. “What?”

“On your fridge. There are pictures of you, Anya and Lincoln, and there’s another girl there.”

“Oh, um…” Lexa eats another spoonful of ice cream. “Her name was Costia.”

“What happened to her?”

“She died.”

Clarke licks her lips, watching as Lexa continues to eat spoonful after spoonful of ice cream.

“I’m sorry,” she says, after realizing that Lexa isn’t going to say anything else. “I, um… One of my best friends died too.”

Lexa stops eating, swallowing her mouthful before putting her spoon in the bowl.

“What was their name?”

“Wells,” Clarke already feels the lump forming in her throat at the thought. “His name was Wells. He used to call me ‘dear’ all the time. Like,  _ so _ much.” She laughs. “It used to drive me crazy. I got my deer tattoo after he died. I know it’s like, a different spelling,” she sniffs up, “but…”

“I think that’s sweet,” Lexa says. “How did he…?”

“He was walking home one night and got stabbed.”

Lexa nods politely, reaching over the table. She knocks her hand on Clarke’s bowl, but then finds Clarke’s hand. She turns it over, running her thumb over Clarke’s wrist, the pad of it stroking over the face of the deer. She can feel the little bumps, but not enough to know exactly what it looks like. Clarke’s hands are warm though, and she likes the way her stomach flips whenever they touch.

“Costia was murdered too.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says. She turns her hand over and holds Lexa’s hand.

“Me too.”

Lexa doesn’t let go of Clarke’s hand until they leave the ice cream parlor an hour later.

//

She always hates this part: standing outside your date’s door, debating whether you should kiss them goodnight or not.

They had decided, after getting ice cream, to go for a walk before Clarke walked Lexa back home. They had talked for most of it; Lexa told Clarke about Costia, and Clarke told Lexa about more of her, Raven and Octavia’s high school shenanigans.

It only occurred to them when Clarke mentioned Finn that they had been sharing insanely personal things about themselves without even realizing. So much so, that Clarke had to stop herself from spilling her whole life to Lexa, from laying herself bare for Lexa to pick her back up and put her together. She doesn’t need to rely on someone to do that for her again. Thankfully though, after Clarke had immediately stopped herself from saying anything about her relationship with Finn, Lexa had stayed quiet.

Clarke appreciated that; that Lexa understood when she didn’t want to talk about something.

They had changed the topic instead. Lexa had asked Clarke what her biggest fear was, which she promptly replied with, “getting injured in an accident so bad that I can see a bone coming out,” which Lexa had smiled at, and told her that that’s oddly specific. But then Lexa said that her biggest fear is reaching out to touch something and realizing there’s a spider there. That made Clarke laugh.

They had continued to talk for a few more hours, until Clarke realized it was almost midnight and they were still walking around. That’s when she suggested walking Lexa home, telling her that she left her car parked outside her apartment building so she doesn’t have to worry about walking home alone, and she just hopes nobody’s towed it away.

Thankfully, they hadn’t.

Part of her wishes they did though, just so she had an excuse to stay with Lexa. And if Raven knew she was thinking all this mushy shit, she’d probably punch her.

“I had a really good night,” Lexa says as she leans against her front door. Her stick is folded up in her hands, and her glasses are still perched on her nose.

Clarke really doesn’t want to leave.

“I did too,” she whispers with a small smile. “I’m glad it was a success.”

Lexa lets out a small laugh, and Clarke bites her lip. She could do it. Just lean in and kiss her, quick and easy, then tell her goodnight and walk the opposite way. She doesn’t know what’s stopping her.

Maybe it’s the fact that Lexa is special. That she deserves better than a lousy, chaste kiss.

“Are you still here?”

“Yeah,” Clarke says, letting out a breath of air.

Fuck it.

She takes a deep breath and leans in.

When her lips touch the corner of Lexa’s mouth, she feels like her breathing stops altogether. Lexa’s too. It’s not even on the lips, but it still feels like her heart skips a few beats as she pulls away, waiting for Lexa’s response.

Lexa lets out the breath of air that she was holding. “Clarke.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to come in?”

Clarke smiles.

“Yeah.”

//

She should’ve known this would happen.

The catcalls start before she even makes it through the threshold of her and Raven’s apartment.

Lincoln is whistling and Raven is calling her a dirty little slut and Octavia is laughing as Jasper, Monty and Bellamy start to make whooping sounds.

“Eugh,” Clarke scoffs as she drops her purse on the table, “why are you guys here?”

They tell her that their classes have been cancelled (the perks of studying the same things as your friends, they say) and that they had nothing else to do so they came here like usual.

It’s not until she’s almost in her room, yawning and stretching her arms as she walks, that Raven stops her in her tracks just like she did yesterday. Only today, she has a smug grin on her face as she looks Clarke up and down.

“You totally got laid, didn’t you?”

“No!” she defends, pushing past Raven and going into her room. Raven just follows her though, shutting Clarke’s bedroom door behind them before turning around to face her.

“What’s she like? Is she a freak in the sheets? I totally pegged her as–“

“–Raven!”

“What?” Raven laughs, jumping on Clarke’s bed and bouncing on her butt a few times before stopping, running her arms over the sheets.

“You’re gonna crease my dress,” Clarke says, snatching the blue dress from last night from underneath Raven.

“I can’t believe you had sex on the first date, you dirty little bird.”

“For the last time, we didn’t have sex.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Clarke turns around, glaring at Raven. “We  _ didn’t _ have sex.”

Raven tilts her head and squints her eyes, and she looks at Clarke for a few more seconds before her eyebrows raise. “You didn’t?”

“No,” Clarke walks up to Raven and turns around. “Unzip me.”

“So what did you do? Cuddle all night?” Raven asks as she stands up, unzipping Clarke’s dress before sitting back down.

Clarke stays quiet as she pulls her heels off and pushes her dress down her body, leaving her in just her underwear.

“You totally cuddled all night didn’t you?” Clarke sighs, throwing her dress at Raven before taking a pair of sweatpants out of her closet. “Oh, Griffin,” Raven says, throwing Clarke’s dress behind her, “you’re in  _ loooove _ .”

“Shut up,” she mumbles, but she’s grinning as she pulls a shirt out, slipping it over her head before putting her sweatpants on.

“Oh my God, you’re so smitten!”

“Shut up!”

“You  _ love _ her!”

Clarke shakes her head, trying her best to stop the grin from spreading on her face, although it’s pretty hard not to smile when she thinks about Lexa.

They had watched a movie when they’d gone into Lexa’s apartment after realizing that Anya was with Indra and Nyko and that they had the place to themselves. Lexa let Clarke choose the movie from the pile next to the TV, and Clarke noticed that each one of them had braille stickers on the front covers, indicating their titles.

They eventually settled on Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion after Lexa had explained that Anya felt the need to put braille labels on absolutely everything. She can’t complain though. She appreciates that Anya is so helpful.

They ended up falling asleep together on the couch with Clarke’s arm around Lexa and with Lexa’s head buried in her neck. Lexa still had her glasses on and they were kind of digging into Clarke’s chest, but she didn’t question Lexa. She would take them off when she was comfortable, Clarke presumed. She didn’t want to push her.

She had loved every minute of it though. She didn’t narrate the movie to Lexa, because Lexa told her that Romy and Michele was Anya’s favorite movie and she knew it like the back of her hand, so it was just them and their even breaths as they cuddled up next to each other.

Clarke hadn’t wanted to be anywhere else.

“Hello, earth to Clarke?” Clarke picks up a hair band from her dresser before turning around to face Raven and putting her hair up in a messy bun. “You alright there? Daydreaming about your lady love?”

She rolls her eyes, making her way to the door so she can go make herself a cup of coffee. She had dropped Lexa off at her 9AM class and hadn’t had chance to get some caffeine in her system yet.

Just as she goes to open the door though, Raven says her name again. But this time it’s different. This time it sounds like Raven needs her. So she turns around, frowning when she sees Raven looking at her with those big, scared eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, walking over to Raven and sitting next to her on the bed.

“Why do you always know when something’s wrong with me?”

“I’ve known you forever, Reyes, I know you more than you know yourself.” Raven smiles, looking down as she twiddles with her fingers. “Tell me what’s wrong,” Clarke whispers.

“It’s Wick.”

“What has he done?”

Raven looks up at the ceiling, blinking a few times as she takes a deep breath. Clarke knows that this is what Raven does when she’s trying to stop herself from crying, so she knows that whatever it is, is a big deal.

“Raven?”

“He broke up with me.”

“That bastard,” Clarke says through her teeth, hands instinctively clenching as she wraps her arm around Raven. “I’m gonna kill him.”

“Clarke–“

“–I’m gonna kill him,” Clarke repeats as Raven melts into her. “Does Octavia know?”

Raven shakes her head, telling Clarke that Octavia was at Lincoln’s last night and she hasn’t had time to tell her.

“Fucking asshole,” she whispers, her other hand coming up to stroke Raven’s hair. And she knows that Raven is making faces, trying to make light of the situation, but she cares about her best friend and she’ll be damned if Wick gets away with this.

“Me and Octavia have got you babe,” Clarke says, rubbing the side of Raven’s face as she pulls her tighter against her, and Raven laughs as she tries to pull away, but Clarke only pulls her closer. “Don’t you worry,” she says in her mama voice, making Raven smile, “we’re gonna teach him not to mess with Clarktaven.”

“What the fuck?” Raven laughs, finally pulling herself away from Clarke. She pats her hair down where Clarke had been rubbing it, and Clarke smiles at her.

“It’s our ship name! I just thought of it right now,” she pouts her lips as she thinks, “or should it be Claravia?”

“That sounds like an STD.”

Clarke laughs, grabbing Raven’s hand and pulling her to stand up.

“I love you, you know that right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why we need revenge,” she clenches her fist, looking around the room. “We can’t TP him because he lives in a dorm…” she trails off, thinking of a plan to get back at him.

“Clarke, you really don’t need to.”

“Like hell I don’t. I’ve never liked that guy, now I can finally take my rage out on him.”

Raven’s face softens, and she shakes her head at her best friend.

It looks like Raven is about to say something else before they hear the door open, and they both look over to see Octavia stood in the doorway.

“We’re going to Subway, you coming?” She looks between both of them, and it’s like she instantly knows that something is wrong. She quickly steps into Clarke’s room, shutting the door behind her.

“What happened?”

Raven sighs, and she’s about to tell her but Clarke immediately steps in, telling Octavia that Wick broke up with Raven.

“That bastard,” Octavia whispers, eyes squinting with resentment.

“Right!” Clarke nods at them both. “We need to get back at him.”

“I agree,” Octavia moves over to stand beside Raven, hugging her from the side as she pats her hair like Clarke had just done, and Clarke smiles as Raven stares at her with nothing but annoyance in her eyes.

“I hate you two,” Raven grumbles, but Octavia carries on pulling her head towards her as she rubs her face, eyes closed as she whispers that she loves her and that everything will be okay. But it does make Raven smile eventually, after realizing how similar both Clarke and Octavia’s reactions were, even if they  _ were _ both taking it a little too far on purpose just to make Raven laugh. It worked though, and as much as she hates to admit it, she’s glad they’re such idiots sometimes.

Bellamy, Jasper and Monty drive to Subway in Bellamy’s car, and Raven, Clarke and Octavia hitch a ride with Lincoln, belting out Queen all the way there and gaining a few strange looks from people passing. It’s not unusual though. Clarke has just learned to roll with it, because honestly, her friends are fucking weirdos, and she accepted that years ago.

She’s in the middle of eating her 6 inch chicken tikka sub when she gets a text from Lexa. It makes her smile before she’s even read it.

**Lexa:** Thank you again for last night Clarke. And for driving me to class this morning.

**Clarke:** It’s no problem. Did Anya pick you up from class?

She smiles, flashbacks of last night showing when she closes her eyes contentedly; she remembers their date and how they slow danced and how close Lexa had been to her — how nice it felt having Lexa’s body against her own.

It makes her stomach churn a little when she thinks about it.

**Lexa:** Yeah, just got back. She’s drilling me about the date.

Clarke smiles.

**Clarke:** I got the same from Raven.

And then she remembers what Lexa had told her about Anya last night. That she’s just got out of a relationship and she’s looking for something different (though Clarke’s pretty sure Anya would kill her if she knew that information about her.)

She instantly gets an idea.

**Clarke:** Wick broke up with Raven last night.

**Lexa:** That sucks.

**Clarke:** Any chance Anya’s up for a little lady lovin’?

She can practically hear Lexa’s laugh, and she smiles at the thought.

Is it weird to miss her already?

**Lexa:** Anya and Raven? Together? I’d pay to see that.

**Clarke:** We could make it happen. I’m pretty persuasive.

**Lexa:** I’m sure you are, Clarke.

She thinks back to last night, and how she wishes she kissed Lexa on the lips instead of on the corner of her mouth. She wishes she could have just said fuck it and leaned in and kissed her like she wanted to. Kissed her until they were breathless. Kissed her until Lexa realized how much she wanted her.

She can’t help but wonder if Lexa wants the same thing.

Oh God, she’s in deep.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @ clarkestiddys if u want


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